Stardust
by Joe's girl
Summary: Tony and Michelle still love each other. Will they find a way to reconcile? Begins immediately after season 4. Spoilers up to episode 21.
1. Trying to Touch a Rainbow

_Okay, my writers block is over (I think!). Here's my idea of what happens after season four ends. I've taken some literary license and changed some of the story line: _

_First of all, Paul Raines dies on the operating table and Jack's actions had nothing to do with it. So, Audrey can't blame Jack for Paul's death. Also, Jen never calls Tony at CTU and Tony and Michelle don't have that moment alone (in episode 4x21) where they essentially admit that they want to be together._

_All the usual disclaimer stuff applies: Jack, Tony, Michelle, Audrey, James Heller, Curtis Manning, Erin Driscoll, Bill Buchanan all belong to Fox not me. Other characters are part of my very vivid imagination. The title STARDUST doesn't belong to me either. It is a 1940s song that was re-recorded in 2004 by Rod Stewart. The lyrics are very fitting. (Apparently we aren't allowed to include the lyrics that have inspired a title any more. If you're interested, I'm sure you can find the lyrics on line.)_

_So please read and if you like it review. I need to know if this is worth continuing. By the way, I PROMISE not to kill either Tony or Michelle like I did in my last fanfic!_

**Stardust**

Chapter 1: Trying to Touch a Rainbow

9:15am

Tony had just finished debriefing and was sitting back drinking a cup of coffee with Agent Phil Riley. Phil was an old friend who Tony was happy to have debrief him. To think that 24 hours ago he was just rolling out of bed and trying to decide what to watch on television and wondering if it was too early to have his first beer. His life was going nowhere at that point and he didn't care. Why care? He had lost everything. As if it wasn't enough that he had, for several months, lost his freedom. He also lost his job, his pension and finally his wife. His precious wife. He could deal with the other losses, but not that one, not the loss of his beautiful Michelle. Not only did she no longer love him, but she perceived him to be a worthless drunk. He could see it in her eyes when they first saw each other here at CTU yesterday. She admitted it. "The last time I saw you, you couldn't stay sober long enough to keep a job!" she told him. Her words stung. They were true, but they still stung.

But the last day had changed everything. Now here he sat, having been instrumental in stopping terrorists that had the ability to kill millions of Americans and render thousands and thousands of acres of land unusable for decades to come. He had saved Jack and Audrey. He had proven his worth. He had even run CTU for a short while. God, it felt good! It felt good to be useful and in command. It felt good to be trusted again, to be needed, to be able to use his skills.

It had been painful, too, having lost his brief command to Michelle. His ex-wife, the woman he taught everything she knew about running CTU, had waltzed in and taken over for him. He was stunned by her appearance. Her hair was straight and she wore a tight, prim, business woman's suit. Where were the pastel cotton sweaters with the sleeves pushed up to her elbows that made her look soft and approachable? She looked so cold and unfeeling in a brown suit. She didn't unbutton the jacket all day. His Michelle would have pulled off the jacket and rolled up her sleeves. This new Michelle was so uptight that she was still straightening her jacket and retouching her make up at 4 o'clock in the morning.

And what happened to her curls? Maybe it was better that they were gone. If she still had her curls he probably couldn't have kept his hands away from them. He loved her curls. He loved to let them twist around his fingers. He loved to tuck them behind her ears when they fell into her face. That always made her smile. Even when she was upset or things were going badly at CTU, she would always smile if he fixed a loose curl. She hadn't smiled once today. Even when it was clear that the threat was over, she still didn't smile. There had been congratulations all around. Bill Buchanan strode proudly over to Michelle and congratulated her as well, but she barely smiled. She stood alone, mirthless, off to the side.

Jack knocked lightly on the door and opened it without waiting for a response. "Hey," he said. "Are you guys finished?" Jack looked tired; his five o'clock shadow was now 16 hours old. He hadn't even stopped long enough to take his Kevlar vest off.

Phil Riley stood and crossed the room to shake Jack's hand. "Just finished," Phil told Jack. He pointed at Jack's vest. "You can take it off, Jack. I think you're safe in here. Unless you think there might still be a few agents who hold grudges against you from when you ran the place."

Jack smiled realizing for the first time that was still wearing the vest. "No, I think I'm safe here. How are you, Phil? How's Bonnie?" he asked as he stripped off the vest.

"I'm okay. Bonnie's fine. We had another baby a couple of months ago." Phil told him. Jack congratulated him and Phil continued. "It's good to see you Jack. It was like old times here today. Jack in the field and Tony running point. If there hadn't been so much at stake, it almost would have been fun. You guys haven't lost a step."

"I'm not so sure about that," Jack said with a vague smile. "I feel like I'm about eighty right now. I used to be able to do this kind of stuff and not feel it. I guess I'm a little out of shape."

"Well, you may feel bad, but you looked great," Phil said. "And Tony can still read your mind. When the goons from McLennan-Forster were after you, Tony said that you would draw them into a firefight. He wanted to send our guys in so they would be ready but Michelle stopped him and kept CTU on the perimeter. You should have seen her face when she realized that Tony was right. That was priceless! Tony, you must have enjoyed that."

"Not really. I would have enjoyed it more if someone had listened to me in the first place. It they had, CTU would have had tactical units in place and been able to respond in seconds rather than minutes." Tony looked down. "If we had responded in time, Paul Raines would probably be alive right now."

Jack nodded. Of all of the lives lost today, he was most upset about Paul Raines. Paul had saved Jack's life but had lost his own in the process. The doctors were able to stabilize him briefly and Audrey had even had a chance to talk to him, but he started hemorrhaging again and they were never able to stop it. After more hours of surgery, Paul died shortly before dawn.

"How is Audrey taking it?" Tony asked.

"Badly," Jack answered succinctly. "She's blaming herself. I'm not sure why, since it was my life he was trying to save when he got shot."

"Where is she now?" Tony asked.

"She's in the conference room with her father. They're on the phone with Paul's family in Australia."

"I'm sorry, Jack," Tony said. "I know this is hard on you, too."

Jack simply nodded his thanks. "Phil, if you don't mind, I'd like to talk to Tony alone for a few minutes."

"Not at all," Phil said as he picked up the debriefing tape from the table. "We were finished." He turned and shook hands with Tony who stood up and walked around the table. "It was good seeing you, Tony. I hope things start looking up for you."

"Thanks, Phil. I appreciate it."

Phil smiled and said goodbye to Jack as he left the room.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Tony asked as he sat down in the nearest chair and indicated to Jack to do the same.

Jack sat down and spoke quietly. "Look, Tony, I told you earlier that I saw you come back to life today. When we were in the thick of it today, your eyes sparkled. You haven't looked like that since before you were arrested. I've talked to friends at NSA and Homeland Security. They both said they could use someone with your skills. If you'd like to come back to Washington with me, I've got room at my townhouse. You're welcome to stay," Jack paused and looked away. He gathered his thoughts and looked back at Tony again.

"Getting away from LA is probably the best thing you could do for yourself right now. Believe me, I know. LA is just too full of memories. Everywhere I go in LA I have some memory of Teri. Even this building; it's like the place is haunted. I still can't go near the transformer room." Jack stopped for a moment and shook his head. The memory of finding Teri dead in the transformer room was still clear in his mind. "Think about it Tony. I think it would be good for you."

"I don't have to think about it, Jack. The answer is 'yes'. You're right. I need to get out of LA. Michelle is everywhere I look and having to work next to her today…," his sentence trailed off and he shook his head. "That was almost unbearable. God! I still love her so much. I don't know how to make myself stop loving her."

"Have you told her that?" Jack asked pointedly.

"Are you kidding? She made it patently clear the last time we saw each other that she wanted me out of her life permanently. And today… Well, let's just say the tension was pretty thick between us. If we didn't have to be together, we wouldn't have been."

"Tony, you had more than one chance to leave if it was that uncomfortable. Why did you stay if you didn't want to?"

"I was about to leave once, but Michelle stopped me."

"Maybe she was trying to tell you something, Tony. Maybe she was telling you that she still wants you in her life."

"Maybe she just needed someone to save her ass," Tony speculated bitterly. "She needed somebody with my skills to get her through a crisis and for whatever reason, I agreed to do it. It's not the first time I've had to save her ass. At least this time she managed not to get kidnapped and I didn't have to commit treason."

"That's not fair, Tony," Jack said. "Michelle isn't to blame for being kidnapped. And it's not your fault that you chose to handle it the way you did. There were other ways out, Tony. If you had trusted me, I would have helped you."

"Jesus, Jack! We've been through this a hundred times. I handled it the only way I knew how at the time. I couldn't stand by and let Saunders hurt her." Tony rubbed his forehead and walked around the table. He spoke quietly now. "I couldn't let him hurt her then and, frankly, I couldn't let anyone hurt her now. When I realized that she needed me today, I turned into putty. I would have done anything she asked. She barely thanked me. God, what happened to her? She seems so cold and distant. Did I do that to her?"

"Tony, I think you should tell Michelle everything you just told me. She deserves to know that you still love her."

Tony shook his head. "Why? So she can tell me that regardless of how I feel, she doesn't love me. I don't need that right now, Jack. I don't think my ego can handle it." Tony sighed. "But you are right; I need to go back to work. I just basically need to start over. I had thought about going back to Chicago, but if you've got connections in DC and I can get a job there, I'll accept your offer."

"Good," Jack said. "I'll let my friends at NSA and Homeland know that you'll be available for interviews next week. You can contact them when we get to Washington." Jack stood up. "I'll arrange for one of Secretary Heller's drivers to take you home. I don't know when we're leaving for Washington yet but I'll call you as soon as Secretary Heller makes that decision. From the discussion he was having with Audrey before they called Paul's parents, I think Audrey is going to accompany Paul's body back to Australia. I don't think they can arrange that before tomorrow. Jim Heller will want to stay in LA until Audrey is on her way to Australia. My guess is that we will leave sometime before noon tomorrow. That should give you time to pack your things."

"Thanks, Jack," Tony said. "You've been a friend to me when I haven't been easy to like. I can't thank you enough." The two friends looked at each other for a long moment and smiled. They had seen each other through some of the worst days of either of their lives and were closer because of it. "I guess I'll head home and pack."

Jack nodded. "I'll let the driver know."

"Tell him I'll be about 15 minutes. I'd like to say goodbye to some people."

"Okay," Jack said with a vague smile. He suspected that the "some people" Tony needed to say goodbye to was really only Michelle.

Jack watched as Tony slowly made his way through the bullpen. He stopped to talk to a couple of people. He knew Jack was watching and he didn't want to be to make it look like Michelle was the only person that he wanted to talk to. But the truth was, that no one else mattered. Everyone else was invisible to him. Michelle, alone, walked the same earth as he. She was so close that he could reach out and touch her, but he didn't dare to. She was so close and so unattainable. It was like trying to touch a rainbow. It was always just a little farther away; always just out of your grasp.

Tony stopped to talk to Curtis for a moment. They had only met today, but he had quickly come to like and respect the man. Actually, talking to Curtis had a two-fold purpose. Curtis' work station gave Tony a good vantage point to view the conference room. He wanted to know that Jack was in the room with Audrey and Secretary Heller before he made his way to Michelle's office.

Michelle sat in her office so tired she didn't know how she was going to drive home. This day had been exhausting both mentally and physically and having Tony so near her had made it that much harder. She glanced down at the bullpen and saw Tony talking to Curtis. He looked so at home here; he belonged here. After his performance today she was pretty sure that she could get him reinstated permanently, not as Director, but certainly at a high level within either the information systems department or as an intelligence analyst. With his skill and experience it wouldn't take long for him to work his way back up.

She forced herself to stop looking at him and to focus on the mountain of paperwork in front of her. There was no way she was going to finish it today. This was probably three or four day's worth of work. She knew that she would be more efficient if she went home and got some sleep and came back in fresh tomorrow morning. In fact, Bill told her to go home over an hour ago. The paperwork could wait, he told her. But she couldn't go, not while Tony was here. Not while she had a chance to look at him and wonder if maybe, just maybe there was any chance for them to reconcile.

Michelle was filling out yet another report when she heard the knock at her door. "Come in," she called without ever looking up.

She heard the door open slowly but no one came in so she finally looked up. Tony stood in the door way.

"Tony," she said. "You look tired. If you've finished debriefing you should go home and get some rest."

Tony nodded. "I'm going to do that. I just wanted to say goodbye and tell you that you did a great job today."

"Thank you. I made a lot of mistakes. I should have listened to you when Jack and Paul were pinned down at McLennan-Forster. If I had, Paul would probably…"

"No, Michelle," Tony interrupted without letting her finish. "If there was one thing I learned in this job, it was not to second guess yourself. You did what your training and your knowledge and your understanding of the situation told you to do at that moment. It didn't work out and, yes, you have to take responsibility for that, but you will drive yourself crazy if you keep second guessing yourself. Learn from it and move on. Jack would tell you the same thing."

Michelle nodded tentatively. "You're right, but it's hard."

"I know it is, but you have to do it," Tony told her. He paused and the silence in the office was deafening. Tony finally spoke. "Before I leave, I just wanted to tell you that I'm going to Washington with Jack."

"You are?" Michelle asked. The surprise in her voice was genuine.

"Yeah, he has some connections there. They have some positions open at NSA and at Homeland Security that I would be qualified for. Even if those don't pan out, I think it's a good idea for me to get out of LA. There are lots of opportunities in and around Washington. Who knows, I've talked about getting a Ph.D. in computer science. Maybe I'll finally do that and teach at some college. I need to start over."

Michelle forced herself to smile. Tony was moving across the country to get away from her, to "start over" as he put it. In other words, to find another woman; one who would appreciate him, one who would realize that he was a wonderful, caring man. She had been such a fool. His drinking and his pushing her away had been a symptom of something else. She should have been more patient, more caring. At the time it happened, it all seemed so unbearable that the only thing she could do was leave him. Now, she wanted to go back in time and correct all of her mistakes.

"That sounds like a good idea, Tony," she said trying to sound convincing. "I wish you all the happiness in the world. You deserve it."

"Thanks," he said. "I've got to go. Jack asked Secretary Heller's driver to take me home. I don't want to keep him waiting."

He stood getting a final look at Michelle. He had hoped that she would try and stop him. Obviously, he thought, I've hurt her so much that she wants me to leave. She wants me to be 3000 miles away so that she doesn't have to ever worry about seeing me again. He wondered how he could have ever hurt her so badly. He had never loved anyone as much before and doubted that he would ever love like that again. He regretted the way he acted when he came home from prison and he wanted to tell her so, but what was the point. She was out of his reach now and baring his soul to her would just hurt too much. "Take care of yourself," he told her.

"I will. You, too," she said solemnly. Please take care of yourself, she thought. I love you so much.

Tony turned his back and walked out the door. Michelle watched him go. She watched him walk down the steps and cross the bullpen toward the rear exit. She collapsed into the desk chair and felt tears well up in her eyes. There was no point in trying to stop them so she didn't.

She wasn't sure how long she cried, but she was crying so hard that she didn't hear the knock at the door. Bill Buchanan had knocked and waited for a response but didn't get one. He thought maybe Michelle was on the phone, so he cracked the door enough to poke his head in. Michelle sat, with her elbows on her thighs and her head in her hands, sobbing.

Buchanan moved into the office and closed the door softly behind him. "Michelle," he whispered as he crossed the room in a couple of steps. He dropped to one knee in front of her and pulled her into his arms.

"I'm sorry," Michelle sobbed. "I don't know why I'm crying," she lied. She knew exactly why she was crying and she had no intention of telling Bill.

"You're tired, that's all. The stress of the day, combined with no sleep just caught up with you." Bill's arms were around her and his face was dangerously close to hers.

The last time she cried to her boss was the day the nuke was detonated in the desert. That time it was Tony and she ended up kissing him. Michelle took a deep breath and sat up. She wasn't going to let that happen this time.

"I guess you're right," she said trying to smile. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Take a few minutes and calm down and then go home. Get some sleep and you can come back in tomorrow. I'm going home soon. If you don't feel up to driving, I can drive you home."

"No," Michelle told him. "I'll be fine." Again she tried to smile. She wouldn't be fine. The truth was that she hadn't been "fine" in 18 months. She hadn't been "fine" since Tony was arrested. She certainly hadn't been "fine" since she left him. And now he was gone, on his way to Washington D.C. Michelle didn't think she would ever be "fine" again.

"Can I get you some coffee?" Bill asked.

"No, I think I've had quite enough in the last 24 hours. If I drink any more, I won't be able to sleep when I get home. I'm just going to organize the desk a little bit and then I'll leave."

Bill moved back toward her and took her in his arms again. "Michelle, I'm worried about you. You went through a lot today and I'm sure seeing Tony again didn't help matters any. If you need to talk, I'm here for you."

Michelle was surprised at how secure she felt in Bill's arms. It wasn't like being held by Tony, but it was nice. His arms were warm and strong and it had been ages since a man held her. She thought about pulling back. None of this was appropriate; after all, he was her boss. But the truth was, sometimes it felt good to be cared for and protected. And Michelle had been trying to be strong for so many months now that it was a pleasure to relax and let someone else accept her burden, if only for a few moments. She had forgotten just how good it felt to have a man's arms around her. Besides that, Michelle knew that Bill cared for her. He really was a good man.

She surprised him by kissing his cheek gently. "Thanks, Bill. I needed that," she said as she pulled away. "Will you be here tomorrow or will you be at Division?"

"I'll be at Division, but I can come over here if you need me."

"No, I'll touch base with you tomorrow afternoon. Is that okay?"

Bill agreed and left the office. He was surprised by Michelle's kiss. When he wanted to start a relationship with her in the past, she clearly wasn't interested. Maybe he was reading too much into that little peck on the cheek, but she had seemed sincere. Was it possible that seeing Tony today had made her realize that the two of them didn't have a future? Bill hoped so. He had a big empty spot in his heart that for the last several months it seemed only Michelle could fill.

Michelle sat down at her desk, pulled out her bag and rummaged through it to find her make up kit. Crying had messed up her make up and she still had to walk through the bullpen to leave CTU. She wanted to make sure that no one could tell that she had been crying. It was time to go home. She needed food and she needed sleep and she needed to figure out what to do with her life now that Tony was really leaving it forever.

_Please, please, please review and let me know if this is worth continuing._


	2. Starting Over

_Thank you Soooo much for all of the reviews! I can't believe I got 18 reviews on that chapter. Some of you have reviewed so many of my chapters that I feel like we're friends. Thanks for staying with me, I really appreciate it. For those of you who are new, welcome! Thanks for taking the time to review. I hope you'll keep reviewing, because I LOVE reviews!_

So, here's chapter 2.

Chapter 2: Starting over

10:35am

Tony walked quietly into the house he shared with Jen, a 23 year old waitress at one of the bars that he frequented. He tossed the CTU jacket he was still wearing onto the couch and his eyes drifted across the kitchen to the refrigerator. He was thinking about how cold the beer was and that it had been almost 20 hours since his last one. He started toward the kitchen and then stopped. No, he was starting over and that meant no beer. No alcohol, period. In fact, what he needed to do, besides get some sleep, was to go out running. He hadn't done that in almost two years and he was out of shape. That's what he would do. He would go out running, then take a shower and get a couple of hours of sleep and then pack.

He didn't have much to pack, so that shouldn't take very long. Almost everything in the house belonged to Jen. She could keep the couple of pieces of furniture that were his. He had already decided that he would take his clothes and his computer software and some books. He would box everything else up and have it shipped to him when he got settled. This afternoon he would stop at the bank and empty his paltry savings account. Lawyers' fees for his defense and later his divorce had taken most of it, but there was a little left from the sale of the house he and Michelle had owned. Then he would take his truck to the used car lot a couple of miles away and sell it. It wasn't worth much, but he would take what he could get for it. That, together with the money from the bank, would give him some cash to start out with.

He made his way into the bedroom. As expected, Jen was still asleep. Without turning on a light, Tony found a pair of running shorts and a clean tee shirt. He dressed in the bathroom, tied his house key to the drawstring of his shorts and left the house. He hadn't even run a mile when sweat was seeping through his shirt and he decided that it was time to head back, amazed at just how out of shape he was. At the same time, the run felt good. It allowed him to clear his mind and after the last 24 hours, that wasn't an easy thing to do. He was breathing deeply and stretching out his muscles. He would get back on a running program as soon as he got to Washington. Once he had a job and some disposable income, he would join a gym and start lifting weights again. Jack was right, he had come back to life in the last 24 hours and he was happy to be among the living again.

He went back into the house. Jen was standing in the kitchen in her bare feet wearing one of Tony's old shirts. She had just gotten out of the shower and her hair was still wet. Her legs were long and shapely beneath the shirt. She was a pretty girl but she had the hard look of someone who had been forced to fend for herself from an early age. Tony couldn't help but think that she could have done better in life if anyone had ever really cared about her. She had been out on her own since she was 17. Jen was an emotional orphan, much like Tony. The difference was that Tony had chosen to orphan himself. He had pushed everyone away, his friends, his family, his wife. Jen, on the other hand, had family that she wished would love and care for her, but they never came through. Her mother was always too busy going from relationship to relationship hoping to find happiness. Her father was no where to be found. He skipped town years ago when he found out that Jen's mother was pregnant for the fourth time. Jen was only five and that was the last she saw him. Her brothers and sister were as lost as she. Her brothers dabbled in drugs and other illegal activities. Her younger sister had two kids already. The first one was born when she was only 15.

Jen looked up at the sound of the door opening. "Jesus Christ! Where the fuck have you been? I sat up half the night waiting for you. I called every bar I could think of. I even called the police to see if you had been arrested or were in an accident. You scared the shit out of me, Tony." Jen tried to sound mad, but the truth was that she was relieved.

She knew that Tony had a drinking problem, but she also knew that if he could manage to get past it, he had a lot of potential; far more potential than the other drunks who slobbered over her and pawed her at the bar. Tony was so polite and well spoken. Even when he was drinking he was nice to her. Sex with him was great. He took time with her. He wasn't like those guys who just shoved themselves inside of her and gave her a minute or two of attention until they came. Tony was careful with her and seemed to want her to enjoy herself. She knew deep down that he still loved his ex-wife, but he still made her feel loved. He never acted as if she was just another screw; as if he just needed a fuck. Even though that was probably the truth, he never made her feel that way.

"I'm sorry," he said softly.

Jen reached in the refrigerator for a beer and handed it to him.

"No, thanks," he told her. She looked surprised. That was the first time she had ever known of him to turn down a beer. "Is there any orange juice in there?"

Jen reached back into the refrigerator and handed him the juice carton. "So where were you?" she asked. "A lot of bad shit happened yesterday. I saw a picture of that friend of yours, Jack Bauer, on the news. I was afraid that you might be with him. I was afraid that you would get hurt. Were you with him?"

"Yeah, I helped him for a while out in the field. Then we went back to CTU and I spent the rest of the day working there." Tony poured the juice in a tall glass.

"You were working? Are they going to pay you? We could use the money."

"Jack will make sure that I'm compensated," Tony said as he drank down the orange juice in one long drink. He refilled the glass with water and drank that as well. "Look, Jen, a lot has changed since yesterday. I've changed since yesterday."

"What do you mean?"

"I realized that I'm wasting my life. I need to get a job and start over. I need to stop drinking."

"I get the feeling that 'starting over' means that you're dumping me."

"I'm not 'dumping you', Jen." He looked down. His voice was soft and gently. "We both know that this relationship was never going to go anywhere. The truth is that I was using you. That was wrong. I never meant to hurt you, I was just too drunk most of the time to see what I was doing."

Jen felt tears well up in her eyes. She didn't know why she was crying. She rarely cried, having learned as a child that it didn't get her anywhere.

"Jen, I'm sorry," Tony whispered. He was standing close to her and he pushed some hair out of her face. She swatted his hand away and blinked back the tears.

"So, where are you planning to go and live rent free this time?" Jen asked coldly. She quickly put up her hard exterior shell. It was like raising a force field. If she played tough, no one would really know that she was hurting.

Tony ignored her remark. The point was well made. He hadn't paid her any rent. The only work he had done in the last few months had been some computer work for several of the bars where he drank. Occasionally they paid him in cash, but they usually paid him in free drinks and cases of beer, so he rarely had any money to contribute to household expenses.

"Jack has some contacts back in Washington. They think they can get me a job."

Jen let down her guard again. She hated the idea of losing Tony. He was the nicest guy she had ever met. "You know, I don't have any real ties here. I could move to Washington. I'm sure I could get a job there. I mean, they have bars there. I could get a job as a waitress." She was desperate now almost pleading with him. Tony had shown her the only real love she had ever known. Even if it wasn't real love for him, it was for her and that was close enough.

"Jen, I'm sorry. I have to do this on my own. I have to make a clean break from LA, from my past. As soon as I get a job and get settled, I'll send you some money to pay you back for all the months of rent and food." He squeezed her shoulder gently and moved past her toward the bedroom. "Jen, you could do better for yourself. Take some courses at junior college. You could get a nice job as a secretary some place where you wouldn't have drunks putting their hands all over you. Maybe you could meet someone nice and really settle down."

"I thought I had," she shouted at him. Tears streaked her face. Tony had never seen her cry before. "I thought you were the nice guy I was going to settle down with. I know it was just some kind of stupid fantasy, but I really thought it could happen."

Tony closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered again as he went into the bathroom to take a shower.

While Tony was in the shower, Jen dressed and went out. It was too early to go to work, she wasn't sure where she was going, but she wasn't hanging around waiting to say goodbye to Tony.

Michelle was walking into her apartment around the same time that Tony was going out for his run. Unlike Tony, who suddenly had enough energy for two people and actually found himself looking forward to the future, Michelle was exhausted and so depressed that she almost wished that the world could just end now. She was hungry and wanted a shower but was too tired to do either. So, she dragged herself back to the bedroom and sat sullenly on the edge of the bed. It was a few minutes before she could bring herself to undress and wash up and crawl between the covers. She lay there for a long time, tired but unable to sleep. Even with the blinds drawn the room was too light for her to sleep. Besides, her mind was too full, too busy for her to sleep. So she just lay still, trying to rest and allowing her thoughts to drift aimlessly through her brain.

The thoughts were disjointed and made little sense. They flitted around like a butterfly in a flower bed settling for a second or two here and there. She thought of Tony and the angry words they had exchanged. She remembered overruling him when Jack and Paul were at McLennan-Forster. A second later she was thinking of Bill and how caring he had been that morning. She remembered watching helplessly as Air Force One fell from the sky. Each thought was fleeting; not lasting more than a few seconds but each seemed so real and played out so vividly in those seconds. Michelle didn't have the strength or the willpower to put them in any order or to try and make sense of them. She pressed her face into her pillow as if that might make them all stop. Instead they seemed to get worse. They were no longer just about the last day but extended beyond to the last few years, her wedding and all of the happiness followed by Tony's arrest and all of the pain that came with it.

Michelle sat up abruptly unable to lie there any longer. She pushed the covers away and went to the kitchen. Her bare feet padded across the tile floor to the refrigerator where she pulled out a carton of orange juice. She poured a couple of ounces, spiked it with a heavy shot of vodka and threw it back quickly. She followed that drink with a second. The drink hit her empty stomach, made a brief attempt to settle there and then nearly exploded. Within seconds she was in the bathroom vomiting. When she was finished, she stepped into the shower. The water was cold but she made no attempt to warm it up. Afterward, she dragged herself back to bed and collapsed naked on top of it. Her wet hair lay on her shoulders making her shiver, but she didn't have the strength to get under the covers. She wasn't sure what she would do next. All she knew was that she couldn't continue to live this way. Tony had said his final goodbye to her this morning. He was leaving for Washington sometime tomorrow and he would take her heart with him.

12:19 pm

Tony showered and shaved and got dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a sport shirt. For a change, he actually gave a damn how he looked. He slipped on the CTU jacket and went out to run his errands. He went to the bank and then sold his truck and walked the couple of miles back home. As he did, he found himself looking forward to going to Washington and working again.

He got home and started to pack. He knew that he should take a couple of hours and get some rest, but he was too excited to sleep. Jack had called and said that Audrey was leaving for Australia at 9 o'clock tomorrow morning. The Secretary of Defense's plane was scheduled to take off for Washington around 9:30. A car would be at Tony's house to pick him up by 8 o'clock.

Tony opened his closet and started to pack his clothes. He hadn't worn anything but old jeans and tee shirts for the past several months. He had to dig to the back of the closet to find his good clothes. He carefully packed his suits, followed by sports jackets and shirts and dress pants. Jeans and khakis and other casual clothes went into another bag. He kept out a navy blue sports jacket, a light blue button down shirt and khaki pants for the trip to Washington. Everything fit nicely into three suitcases.

It was almost 8 o'clock by the time he went to work packing his software and some other items into a couple of boxes. As he did he came across several pictures of Michelle. They had been taken in Golden Gate Park when the two were on a weekend trip to San Francisco. Michelle smiled at the camera as she stood in the Japanese Tea Garden. She was dressed casually in a crocheted sleeveless sweater and pair of flax colored linen Capri pants and matching jacket. Her windblown curls shone in the sun and her smile was big and genuine. They had been so happy that weekend. Just two weeks later Tony found himself handcuffed and charged with treason. He stared at the pictures and ran his finger across her lips as if she was there and he was actually touching her. Maybe Jack was right, he thought. Maybe he should call her and tell her how he felt, that he still loved her. He certainly had nothing to lose. She had already left him broken hearted. What more could she do to him? He reached for his phone and started to dial her number.

He had punched in the number and was just about to hit "send" when he stopped himself. Michelle had had every opportunity yesterday and even this morning when he said goodbye to her to tell him that she still cared and she hadn't done it. Tony turned off his phone and set it on the kitchen counter. This is a waste of time, he thought.

"I have to stop loving you," he whispered aloud. "I'll drive myself crazy if I don't." He looked at the pictures one more time and closed his eyes for a second as if burning the images in front of him into his brain. Then he opened his eyes and tore the pictures to shreds.

8:30 pm

Michelle wasn't sure when, but at some point she must have fallen asleep. She awoke with a start, cold and disoriented in her dark bedroom. She had been dreaming that she was on Air Force One as the missile exploded. Her heart was pounding and it took a second for her to realize that it was all just a dream.

She lay still for a moment assessing the situation. Her mind had finally calmed down and she seemed to be able to put together a string of coherent thoughts. First of all, she was hungry. She couldn't remember when she had last eaten anything substantial but thought that it was probably breakfast yesterday. Once she ate she needed to address her second concern: what to do about Tony. She was at a crossroads and she needed to make a decision soon. Tony would leave LA within the next day and she had to decide whether or not to tell him how she felt.

She got out of bed and put on a pair of flannel lounge pants and a camisole and made her way to the kitchen. She opened her perpetually empty refrigerator and, as usual, found little there. Yogurt seemed appetizing. The choice was strawberry or key lime. She could still taste bile in her throat and thought the key lime would be better for getting rid of that. The yogurt was good, but not enough. She needed something else. After opening several empty cupboards she finally decided on Cheerios. She went back to the refrigerator and opened the milk carton. It still smelled fresh enough, so that settled it. Dinner tonight would be key lime yogurt and Cheerios with milk. Her mother would be appalled. Mom's idea of dinner included a meat, a starch and at least two vegetables. Oh well, this would just have to do. She considered topping the Cheerios with banana slices, but the banana on the counter looked like it should have been eaten about a week ago.

Michelle sat at the kitchen table eating Cheerios and thinking seriously about what she should do next. She couldn't deny the fact that she loved Tony. The question was: Did she want to tell him and risk his rejecting her anyway? She had left him and filed for divorce when she simply could not live with his drinking and his silence any more. But she knew when she did it that he still loved her. That was months ago, she had no way of knowing how he felt now, but by the way he acted yesterday, she had to assume that he no longer cared. Despite that, she wanted him to know the truth.

She found her phone and turned it on. There were three messages: two from Bill and one from her mother. All three were just checking to see how she was. She would call them back later. She deleted the messages and dialed Tony's number. Although she hadn't called him in months, it was still committed to memory. The phone rang once and went to voice mail. Michelle stared at the phone for a second and then disconnected. If his phone was turned off then he didn't want to talk to anyone and that included her. She wasn't prepared to leave a message; she wasn't sure what to say, so she just hung up.

She set the phone on the kitchen table and went into her den and turned on the television. The coverage of the last two days events was constant and on every channel. Death tolls from the train wreck, damage assessments at San Gabriel Island and the President's condition were all anyone was talking about. Michelle watched knowing that the press was being given only limited information. The whole truth was more than the American public could take right now, so only bits and pieces of information were being supplied to the press. It was enough to keep them at bay for the time being. More details would come out as time passed but for now, the flow of information would be limited.

Michelle turned off the television and thought again about Tony. She considered what she would say if she decided to leave a message. Several thoughts came to mind and she slowly formulated a message which she rehearsed out loud several times. Each time she revised it slightly until she was thoroughly satisfied with it. Now it was just a matter of getting up the nerve to leave the message.

Her stomach now full, Michelle decided to have a glass of wine to help fortify herself. As she sipped the wine, she started to think about her other option; it was one she had thought about a lot over the last few months. She knew that Bill Buchanan cared deeply for her. He made his feelings known more than once. Bill was a wonderful man. He was older than Michelle by 15 years, but that never entered into her decision making process. As much as she liked him, he had come into her life at the wrong time. She was still trying to get over Tony when he asked her out. They went out a couple of times and, she had to admit, they enjoyed themselves. At the time she just wasn't ready for another relationship; she still wasn't over Tony. Now when she thought about it, she realized that she would probably never be over Tony, but it seemed that he might be over her. She remembered Bill's hug this morning and how good it felt. Maybe she should give Bill a second chance, if he would still have her.

Although she knew she shouldn't, she found herself comparing Bill and Tony. They were completely different personalities. Tony was fun-loving and the life of every party. He loved to tease and joke. He loved action movies and played any sport that involved a ball but preferred the contact sports. He was a natural at basketball and soccer. Bill, on the other hand, was quiet and mild mannered. He was an excellent golf and tennis player and preferred the theater to movies. They were both wonderful men, just very different.

Michelle squeezed her eyes shut. Her decision was made. She went to the kitchen to refill her wine glass and retrieve her phone.

"Here goes," she said out loud as she dialed the phone.

She was making the call now before her resolve left her. She felt as though she had lost everything at this point and it was time to try and salvage her life. At the moment, this seemed to be her best choice, and frankly, if it failed, she wasn't sure how she would handle it.


	3. Pushing Past the Pain

_Hi everybody and thanks again for all of the reviews. You guys are so great! Here's chapter 3. Some of you aren't going to be too happy with me by the end of it, but I'm hoping you'll stick with me til the end of the story!_

Chapter 3: Pushing Past the Pain

9:58pm

Michelle listened as the phone rang once, twice, three times. "Answer, damn it!" she said emphatically to the air.

"Hello," he said in a voice that made her suspect that he had been sleeping.

"Bill, it's Michelle. I hope I didn't wake you."

"Michelle," he said clearly surprised. "Don't worry about it. I guess I fell asleep on the couch. I really should get up and go to bed."

"I won't keep you," she said. "I just wanted to thank you again for being so understanding this morning when I fell apart. You know that I don't usually lose control like that. I'm not sure what came over me but I just lost it."

"Don't apologize. We all have those moments. You were put in a terrible position yesterday. You were forced to take over in the middle of the worst terrorist attack in history. No one should be put in that position. I'm just sorry that it was you that got stuck with it." Bill paused for a moment then added, "For what it's worth, Michelle, you did an incredible job."

"Thank you. I appreciate your vote of confidence. Look, I also called for another reason. I wondered if maybe we could get together for dinner tomorrow night."

"Dinner?"

"I know this is short notice. If you're busy, I understand."

"No, no, I don't have plans. Dinner would be great. I have a meeting with Brad Hammond at 5 o'clock but we should be finished by six. Can I pick you up over at CTU or would you like to meet somewhere?"

"I'm not sure that we want to leave CTU together. We'll be the topic of conversation around every coffee pot in the building within a day. Why don't we just meet at the restaurant? How about 7 o'clock at 'Jillys'?"

"I'm looking forward to it. I'll see you then."

They said their goodbyes and disconnected. Brad set his phone down not sure what to make of the conversation. First, she kissed him this morning; just a friendly kiss, but none the less a kiss, and now she was asking him to dinner. He and Michelle were good friends, so dinner and a kiss on the cheek were not unreasonable. Or was she interested in a relationship? Six months ago she had made it clear that she wasn't interested. She had been very sweet about it and, as he told Tony yesterday, never actually admitted it, but it was clear to him that she still loved Tony. That was six months ago, she could have changed her mind by now.

Bill shook his head. He wasn't sure what Michelle was thinking, but he was going to let her take the lead. He had been crazy about her since he first met her in Seattle when she was still married. He wasn't sure what it was about her, but she took his breath away. She was beautiful, yes, but it was more than that. She was keenly intelligent with a quick and analytical mind. At the same time she was soft and sweet and he was struck by her loyalty to her husband who was in federal prison at the time. When he heard that she was getting a divorce and he had the chance to transfer south to LA, he took the transfer hoping that it would lead to relationship with her.

Loyalty was a trait that Bill respected over most others. He had been married once for a few years to a woman he absolutely worshipped. Unfortunately, he was the only person who didn't realize that she would sleep with virtually anyone if she felt they could ever help her in her pursuit of higher position and authority. When he questioned her faithfulness and loyalty to him, she tried to tell him that this had nothing to do with either. She didn't love those men like she loved him; she simply had sex with them. Bill didn't see it the same way and filed for divorce. That had been almost 15 years ago and he had been unable to commit to any woman since then. He dated occasionally, but the relationships never turned serious. If they did, he found a way to get out of them. He couldn't make himself trust any woman. But Michelle was different. He believed that he could trust Michelle; believed that if he could make her love him that she would be faithful and wouldn't hurt him. He wanted her badly and would do whatever it took to make a relationship with her work.

When Michelle hung up the phone, she was almost as confused as Bill. She wasn't quite sure why she was asking him to dinner or if she wanted a relationship with him. What she did know was that when he was holding her in his arms this morning that she felt safe, safer than she had felt since Tony held her after the shootout in the street with Saunders' men before he was arrested. They were crouched next to a car and Tony's arms were wrapped protectively around her. He kissed her forehead and asked her if she was alright. She nodded to tell him that she was, but she wasn't. She was tired and scared and wanted nothing more than to be magically transported to their bedroom where they could lie together free of the troubles of the rest of the world. Minutes later her world was destroyed when Tony was arrested. The safety of her fairy tale life where she and Tony would live happily ever after was forever shattered.

Bill made her feel safe again. He cared for her, in truth, he probably loved her. She knew that she didn't love him, at least not the way she loved Tony. But a love like that only came along once in a lifetime and she had had her chance. Bill was a good man; a man who would love her and care for her and would never intentionally do anything to hurt her. If he was still interested in a relationship with her, she would do whatever was necessary to make that relationship work.

10:35 pm

Tony dropped onto the couch exhausted after being awake for the past 37 hours. He decided that it was best if he slept on the couch. He suspected that Jen wouldn't bother coming home tonight, but if she did, he didn't want to be sleeping in her bed.

As he lay there he found that for the first time since his arrest 18 months earlier he was actually looking forward to the future. Yesterday had done him a world of good. He had found himself again and realized that he did indeed have worth, value, a skill that others could depend on. He was happy with himself. He regretted wasting the past months drinking and feeling sorry for himself. He greatly regretted what he had done to Jen. He had used her and he knew that was wrong. He had been so drunk most of the time that he didn't realize that she loved him. For him the relationship amounted to little more than a roof over his head and some physical comfort when he was sober enough to feel a desire for sex. Thinking about it now, he cringed. He had never treated a woman that way before. He had never had sex with someone that he had no feelings for just to fulfill his own need. As badly as he felt about his treatment of Jen, he also knew that she was a survivor. She might be down for a while, but she would get up again and move on. He just hoped that the next time she fell in love, that it would be with someone who genuinely loved her back.

5:45am

The sun was barely up but Tony was too excited to sleep any more. He got up ready for his trip to Washington and to start over. The limousine wouldn't be here to pick him up for over two hours and he had to do something with that time or he would go crazy. He decided to get up and go running. He washed his face and brushed his teeth and dressed in a pair of old running shorts and tee shirt. He stretched out and then stepped outside into the cool morning. It was a perfect day for running.

Tony ran up the street and found himself quickly in a groove. He was tired yesterday and hadn't wanted to push himself, but today was different. Today was the start of his new life. He ran hard, breathing deeply and filling his lungs, using muscles that he hadn't used in ages. By the time he got home he was covered with sweat and trying to get his breath. His muscles ached but it all felt great. He made his way to the shower and then shaved and dressed in the clothes he had left out. He went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator filled with beer. He pushed past the beer and pulled out the orange juice. He cooked himself a couple of eggs and some toast and sat at the kitchen table eating them. He couldn't remember the last time he ate breakfast before 10:00 am and when he did it generally consisted of cold pizza and beer.

It was 7:30 and his ride would be here soon. Jen hadn't bothered to come home last night. Tony wrote her a note apologizing again for how he treated her and thanking her for caring for him. He would never forget her, he said and he meant that. She was a sweet girl who needed nothing more than some love and guidance.

At a few minutes to eight Tony heard the limousine pull up out front. He carried his suitcases outside and met the driver on the porch. Together they loaded everything easily into the limousine and left for the airport. It was hard for Tony to believe that virtually everything he owned was in three suitcases and a couple of boxes. It was a sad commentary on his life but that was going to change. He was going to make sure of it.

10:00 am

Michelle sat in the director's office at CTU buried under paperwork. Hammond had already informed her that she would remain acting director until Erin Driscoll was able to return to her post. He had no idea when that would happen, but clearly not for at least a couple of weeks.

Right now she needed to get out from under the paperwork. Not only did she have her own paperwork to complete, but due to Erin Driscoll's unexpected departure, she had Erin's paperwork to finish as well. She was happy to be busy, it kept her mind occupied. So she drank coffee and completed report after report, signed some and sent others back to department heads for clarification or completion. Her phone rang and she answered it absently.

"Michelle, it's Curtis. I just wanted you to know that the Secretary of Defense's plane has left LA airspace. So we've lowered our security level."

"That's fine. Thanks for letting me know."

Michelle minimized the report she was working on and pulled up a secure site. She confirmed that the Secretary of Defense's plane took off from a nearby military base at 9:35 and had indeed cleared LA airspace. She pulled up the passenger manifest and read down the list of names. Antonio Almeida was the last name on the list. She stared at his name and then looked away from the monitor. Tony was on his way to Washington, away from her, out of her life. She quickly blinked back tears and then went back to work. Move on, she told herself. It's time to move on.

7:00 pm

The day had passed pretty uneventfully. Michelle filled out forms and signed reports most of the day. CTU was still interrogating some known Marwan associates that had been captured over the last 48 hours. They were trying to establish the locations of Marwan's various cells and the names of the participants. Marwan had done a good job of keeping the cells discreet from one another but they were able to piece together enough to begin arresting other possible associates. Michelle spent the late afternoon being briefed on the interrogations.

By 6:15 she had had enough. It was time to leave for the day. She said good night to the crew who would work through the night. She stopped and talked to the night shift commander and made sure that he knew how to reach her. As acting director, she had to be available to CTU at all times. She gave him her home phone and cell phone numbers and told him not to hesitate to contact her.

Now she was sitting at the bar in a trendy restaurant that she knew Bill liked. There was about a 30 minute wait for a table so she put her name on the list. A table for two, non-smoking, she told the hostess. Then she sat down at the bar and ordered a margarita, on the rocks with salt, and sipped it while she waited. She had hoped that it would calm her nerves, but so far that wasn't working. It was about ten after seven when Bill finally walked through the door. He quickly found her at the bar and sat down beside her. He loosened his tie and ordered a gin and tonic as soon as the bartender came by.

They asked about each other's day. The nature of their work was so confidential that they couldn't discuss the details in public. So instead, they made awkward small talk. Bill told Michelle that she looked nice. He liked her in green, he told her, it was a good color for her. She thanked him and asked him what he recommended from the menu. The conversation quickly waned but fortunately, their table was ready. As the evening progressed their conversation slowly picked up.

Their server had cleared the dishes and they were waiting for dessert and coffee. "Michelle," Bill started, "I'm thrilled that you wanted to have dinner tonight, but I'm also a little bit confused. When we went out a few months ago, you made it pretty clear that you weren't interested in me. So you can imagine that I was pretty surprised when you called me last night and wanted to go to dinner."

Michelle smiled and looked down. "Bill, I'm sorry about what happened when we last went out. I hope you can understand. My divorce was just finalized at that point. I don't talk much about it, but Tony and I didn't exactly have an amicable divorce. It was pretty ugly. I wasn't ready to jump back into a relationship then."

"I don't want to be too personal, but I got the sense that you still cared for Tony. I got that same sense when you two were together at CTU."

Michelle shook her head. "Whatever my feelings were for Tony in the past, it's over. Having to work next to him at CTU was hard, but I know now that our relationship is over. You and I have quite obviously cared for each other for a long time and I'd like to give a relationship a chance, if you're still interested."

"I'm very interested. I just want to make sure that this is really what you want."

"It is, Bill. I really want to give it a try," she said giving him a reassuring smile.

They finished dessert and left the restaurant hand in hand.

Around the same time that Bill and Michelle were leaving the restaurant, Tony was settling down in Jack's guest room for his first night in Washington. Their flight from LA had been quiet. Jack and Secretary Heller tried to get some work done, but both were clearly distracted. They were both thinking of Audrey, but for different reasons. Jim Heller was worried about his daughter's state of mind. She felt responsible for Paul's death despite everyone's assurance that it wasn't her fault. She was virtually despondent when she got on the plane bound for Australia. Jack was worried about her as well, but his concern also included their future. He wasn't sure that she loved him any more or that she would be interested in continuing their relationship. She had seen a frightening side of Jack and she didn't like it. Jack hoped that she would eventually understand that he did what he did for the good of the country. He didn't always like his job, but someone had to do it and he was good at it.

Jack's friend, Ken Powell, from NSA was so anxious to talk to Tony about a position that he called Jack while they were in the air. Tony ended up talking to him for close to an hour. Ken was interested in interviewing Tony for a newly created position that required computer skills and analysis of intelligence but that would also act as a liaison to the CIA. He had talked to several people with the computer skills, but Tony was the only one who understood the inner workings of the CIA. That made him a particularly desirable candidate. Tony reluctantly brought up his treason conviction to Ken. Powell was well aware of Tony's history. He had already pulled Tony's personnel file from the CIA. He and several of his colleagues and superiors had already read it and had discussed it with some of the higher-ups in the CIA. Everyone agreed that Tony never should have been charged with treason. Once he was charged, it was hard not to find him guilty; the act was treasonous. But he was only charged in the first place because Brad Hammond was trying to make a name for himself. Hammond was well known in the CIA as a mid-level bureaucrat with ambitions to move up. Brad had gambled badly by charging Almeida with treason, it forced President Palmer to pardon him. Palmer didn't like setting a precedent by pardoning a traitor, but by the same token, he couldn't see the sense of Tony sitting in prison. Hammond was given a stern reprimand by the president. He couldn't be fired, but it was clear that he would never be promoted as he had hoped.

By the time the conversation ended, Tony was hopeful that he had found a new job and that Ken would be his new boss. From what he could tell on the phone, he liked Ken and from what Ken told him about the job, he knew it was one that he would like. Before hanging up, they arranged to meet for an interview the next day. Tony stood up and walked to the rear of the plane to return the phone to Jack.

"How did it go?" Jack asked as Tony handed him the phone.

"I hope I'm not being over confident, but I think it went well. We're meeting tomorrow for a full interview." Tony couldn't help but smile. "I don't know how to thank you, Jack."

Jack shook his head. "Don't thank me. If you get the job, it's because of your qualifications. I just put you in touch with the right person. And if the job at NSA doesn't work out, you can still talk to my friend at Homeland Security and Secretary Heller thinks you should talk to someone he knows with Secret Service."

"At this point, I'll talk to anybody who can offer me a job. I just really want to be working and productive again."

Jack nodded, understanding what it was like to drift aimlessly. He had done it for 18 months after Teri's murder. Once he was back at CTU, like Tony, he knew he had to go back to work. He was wasting time and talent feeling sorry for himself and none of it would bring Teri back.

"Did you talk to Michelle before you left?" Jack asked him.

"Briefly. I told her that I was moving to Washington. She told me that she thought it was a good idea and she wished me luck. That ended the conversation."

"Did you tell her that you still loved her?"

Tony shook his head. "There was no point in it."

"Tony, I still think…"

Tony interrupted. "Did you tell Audrey that you loved her before she got on the plane this morning?"

Jack looked out the window avoiding Tony's gaze. "No," he said in a voice so soft that it was almost inaudible.

"You do love her though, don't you?" Tony asked.

Jack smiled shyly and looked at the floor. "Before all of this started, before she was kidnapped, she told me that she was falling in love with me. She said that I didn't have to say anything, that she just wanted me to know how she felt. I froze. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to tell her that I loved her too, but I couldn't bring myself to say it. Now I've probably lost her forever."

"You don't know that, Jack."

"I saw the look in her eyes when she left this morning."

"Give her time; she's been through a lot in the last couple of days."

Jack nodded. "I know," he said then he turned and looked out the window.

Tony sat silently and looked out the window, too. They had so much in common, he and Jack. They understood each other well. At the moment they each felt alone in the world; their hearts held hostage by women who both were sure would never love them again. The pain was indescribable. Yet each knew that he had to go on, push past the hurt and find the good in life again.


	4. New Relationships

_Thanks once again for all of the reviews! I especially like ones that tell me what you liked or didn't like. I always have a good idea how my stories are going to end before I start writing, but I have occasionally changed or added things based on requests by reviewers. So you do influence me with your reviews. (Yes, I have figured out that ALL of you want Tony and Michelle to end up together. You'll just have to keep reading to see how the story plays out!) _

_The 2 hour season finale of 24 will air in the US in just a couple of days and I fear for the future of our favorite star crossed lovers. I truly hope that I'm wrong and they can walk off into the sunset (or the sunrise, since the show will end at 7am) and live happily ever after, but I'm not so sure that will happen._

_I can't help what the 24 writers do, but I can control my own fan fiction! So keep reading and let me know what you think._

Chapter 4: New Relationships

Tony spent his first week in Washington DC interviewing for jobs and the second week waiting to hear from his potential employers. The day after he arrived, he interviewed with Ken Powell at NSA. Later in the week he interviewed with Homeland Security and Secret Service. He wanted the NSA job the most, but at this point would work for anyone who was willing to employ him. Ken Powell called Tony two weeks to the day after he arrived in Washington and offered him the job. Tony didn't wait to hear from the other agencies; he happily accepted a position after barely taking the time to negotiate salary. It was exactly what he wanted and he liked the people he would be working with. Tony dove into his new job headfirst. He put in a tremendous number of hours and Ken Powell was well pleased with his work.

Tony stayed with Jack about four months before moving into his own apartment. Jack suggested that he stay a little longer and get himself better established before moving, but Tony felt that it was time to go. He had been living on the hospitality of others for the last year. First it was with Jen and now with Jack. He needed to be an adult and take care of himself. He also disliked the hour-long commute from Jack's Washington home to his new job in Maryland. He knew he could find something closer to work. His other reason for moving out was that Jack and Audrey clearly needed some privacy. Their relationship had cooled significantly after the terrorist attacks as Jack had feared. It was about two months before Audrey started to come out from under the mantle of depression that had blanketed her since Paul's death. Once she did, she and Jack began seeing each other again. It was tentative at first. They went out to dinner or to a movie and ended the evening with a quick good night kiss, but they were beginning to spend more time together. When Tony got home from work late one evening the two were curled on the sofa watching a movie. Although Jack and Audrey didn't seem to mind, Tony found it uncomfortable. He started making sure that he made plenty of noise before coming into the house. He didn't want to walk in on them in a more compromising position. He had been thinking about it for a couple of weeks but finally decided that it was time to find his own place.

As he promised himself before he left LA, Tony got himself back into an exercise routine. He was running five days a week and going to the gym for weight training. He felt good and by the time he had been in Washington six months he felt as if his life was back in order. He was working in a job he liked and living on his own again. Emotionally he was doing much better, which he knew was a result of working again. His thoughts no longer strayed to Michelle at every free moment. He chuckled to himself as he realized that her beautiful face only crossed his mind about fifty times a day now and that was better than when he left LA.

If he was lacking anything, it was a social life. True, he played tennis with Jack or golfed occasionally with some guys at work and he played soccer in a men's soccer league. But other than that he didn't do much socializing and he hadn't dated at all. He had noticed a pretty girl from another department at work. They seemed to run into each other pretty regularly in the hallway and sometimes at lunch especially on nice days when they could eat outside. Outdoor seating was limited and twice now Tony saw that she had room at her table and asked if he could sit down. Both times she had said 'yes' and they had chatted through lunch. Her name was Lisa DeMarco and she was a language specialist. She was small, probably just a little over five feet tall, and petite. Her auburn hair was cut in a short precision style that Tony found very sexy. He smiled when he thought about her. Maybe it was time to start dating again. He certainly hadn't forgotten about Michelle, nor had he stopped loving her but there was no point in carrying a torch for her. It was unlikely that he would ever stop loving her, but since he couldn't have her, he needed to find someone else to form a new caring relationship with and over time he may even come to love her.

Actually, when he thought of it, Lisa wasn't the only girl to catch his eye. Johanna Morrison, or "Jo" as she preferred to be called, was a personal trainer at the health club where Tony worked out. They had talked at the spa bar over some kind of mango juice health shake one day. She was tall and athletic with green eyes and light brown hair that she pulled into a long pony tail. Yes, Jo had certainly caught his eye. And if he really wanted to play the field, there was a girl he had met at the pool at his apartment complex. He was sitting on a lounge chair reading a book one day when she sat in the chair next to him. She was blond and blue eyed and she could definitely fill out a bathing suit. They ended up talking for a long time. She had a Master's Degree in Forensic Psychology and worked for the FBI as a profiler. Now if he could just remember her name. What was it? Ah, yes, Abby, Abby Clark. Tony laughed to himself when he thought about it. Three girls. He hadn't tried to date three girls at once since he was in college and it was a fiasco. Oh well, hopefully he was older and wiser now and could juggle it. At least it was worth a try.

He decided that he would ask out the first one of them that he saw. He suspected that it would be Lisa since he saw her almost every day. After much thought he decided that he would ask her out the next Sunday. There was a concert by the Navy band at a park in Washington. He would pack a picnic lunch and they could spread out a blanket and listen to the music. It seemed like a nice first date.

As expected he ran into Lisa the next day. He asked her what time she planned to eat lunch and asked if he could join her. That seemed like a good way to start. She appeared to be pleased that he was expressing an interest in her and told him that she would be going to lunch around 12:15 and would love to have him join her. Tony found himself getting nervous as the morning wore on. He kept one eye on the time. He didn't want to appear anxious and get to lunch too early, but then again, he didn't want to keep her waiting. Lunch went well and as they were getting up to leave, Tony brought up the idea of a picnic in the park on Sunday. Lisa accepted and they decided on a time and exchanged phone numbers. As Tony returned to his office he smiled to himself, proud that he was taking yet another step toward putting his old life behind him.

By the time Tony started dating again, Michelle's relationship with Bill was well established. The first few days after the terrorist attacks were hectic. Michelle continued to run CTU while Bill was at Division. Intelligence agencies had an enormous amount of work to do and neither of them had a day off for almost three weeks. Despite that, Bill made sure that he and Michelle saw each other nearly every day, even if it was just to meet for a quick lunch. When they finally both got a weekend off, they decided to spend Saturday at Venice Beach. They walked along the boardwalk enjoying time away from work and time spent together.

The sun was setting as they drove back to LA. They had taken Michelle's convertible and it was the perfect evening to drive with the top down. She pulled into Bill's driveway and let the engine idle.

"It was a fun day, Bill. Thank you. I really needed to relax and today was great." She leaned forward to kiss him.

"It's early, Michelle. You don't have to go home yet. Why don't you come in for a glass of wine?"

Michelle hesitated. She knew what Bill was asking. He couched it in the form of suggesting that she come in for a nightcap, but she knew that he desperately wanted to move their relationship from friendly to intimate. In the last couple of days when they kissed goodbye, Bill made sure the kisses were long and intense. When Michelle couldn't leave CTU long enough to go to dinner on Thursday night, Bill brought Chinese food and they ate in her office. Behind the closed door of the office, his kisses became so passionate that she had to pull away and remind him where they were. He was pressed hard against her and she could feel that he was becoming aroused. Today on the beach as they stood in a secluded place, Bill took her into his arms and began kissing her. His hands traveled down her back and back up her sides. As he did that, his thumbs gently stroked the sides of her breasts.

She wasn't sure why she was so hesitant. She knew that sex was the next logical step in their relationship. In point of fact, she was a healthy, 35 year old woman who hadn't had a physical relationship with a man since before she left her husband. She enjoyed sex and she missed it. Bill was kind and gentle and Michelle was sure that sex with him would be warm and loving. The idea of having a man touch her and caress her and actually be inside of her definitely turned her on.

She thought that her hesitation had much more to do with Tony than it did with Bill. Making love with Bill was a final admission on her part that her relationship with Tony was truly over and part of her brain had never been able to admit that. She was well aware that they had been divorced for some time now and that Tony had moved 3000 miles away.

"Michelle," Bill said bringing her back to reality. "Would you like to come in for a drink?"

It was going to happen eventually and Michelle couldn't think of a reason why some other time would be better than now. "Sure, I'd love a glass of wine," she told him. She turned off the engine and got out of the car. Bill took her hand and the two of them strolled across the walk and through the front door.

Once inside, Michelle settled down on the sofa while Bill went to the kitchen to get the wine. He came back into the room with a bottle of Michelle's favorite chardonnay and two glasses. He sat down next to her and poured. They were clearly both nervous and neither knew what to say. Their nervousness caused them both to sip the wine faster than necessary and Bill was soon refilling their glasses. Two glasses of wine relaxed them both and soon they were kissing passionately on the sofa.

At first they were sitting up, kissing and caressing each others' faces. It wasn't long before Michelle, inhibitions lowered from the alcohol, climbed on Bill's lap. He began kissing her neck and then the top of her chest. Soon he was massaging her breasts through her clothes and she was embarrassed to hear herself moan out loud. He laid her down on the sofa and slid his hands under her blouse as he climbed on top of her. She could feel how hard he was and it excited her to know that she could arouse him this much. She was lost in the moment, in the desire to be loved, physically loved, again and for the time being Tony was forgotten. It felt so good to have a man touching her again.

"We'd be more comfortable in bed," Bill said in a low, seductive voice.

"Do you have any protection?" she panted. "I didn't know this was going to happen. I don't have anything with me."

"It's okay. I'll take care of it," he told her between kisses. He helped her up from the sofa and they made their way to Bill's bedroom. Soon they were on the bed, slowly removing article after article of clothing. After their intense kisses on the sofa, Bill slowed the pace once they got into bed. Michelle was right. Bill was a tender and caring lover. He spent a lot of time on foreplay just caressing and getting to know her body. He was kissing her tenderly and almost seemed to be worshipping her. Michelle lay back on a pillow enjoying the feeling of his hands and mouth on her body. At some point she realized that Bill was doing all of the work. Although her hands were resting on his body, she wasn't caressing him the way she would have Tony. If that bothered him, he didn't say anything. At the moment he seemed too intent on pleasing her. He eventually climbed on top of her and very carefully penetrated her. She watched his face and could see that he was in ecstasy.

Afterward they kissed gently and lay in each other's arms. Slowly, Bill drifted off to sleep. Michelle lay wide awake listening to his steady, quiet breathing. She knew that it was wrong to compare them, but Bill had been very different from Tony. Tony was a playful lover while Bill was intense and serious. Tony was vocal, moaning out loud and talking seductively to her or whispering her name. Bill was quiet. Even when he climaxed he had barely made a sound. She realized too that she had been uncharacteristically quiet. When making love with Tony, she would moan and gasp loudly and call out his name. Tonight, besides the moan she let out while they were on the sofa, she had been virtually silent. Her orgasm had been subdued as well. It was a good orgasm, but Bill hadn't sent her into another universe the way that Tony could. Despite it all, she had to admit that she had enjoyed herself tonight.

They awoke together the next morning with the awkwardness of first time lovers; both spending an inordinate amount of time trying to make sure they were covered. They talked about their plans for the day almost as though they forgot what happened last night. For Michelle, this was very different than her first night with Tony. First of all, they had decided early in the relationship that they wanted to wait for the right time to have sex. They wanted to make sure that they knew each other and were ready for that next step. After several months of dating, they made plans to go to a romantic inn in Big Sur for a long weekend. There they had consummated their love. The next morning hadn't been awkward. They lay in bed kissing and touching. They ordered breakfast in bed and afterward, made love again. It was one of Michelle's favorite memories.

Bill and Michelle didn't lie in bed long. They got up and dressed. Michelle desperately wanted to take a shower but was uncomfortable doing so at Bill's house. As she dressed, she decided that despite the fact that neither of them was mentioning what had just happened between them, that it was certainly going to happen again. She needed to bring up the subject of birth control with Bill.

As she finished dressing she broached the subject. "Bill, I'll call my doctor on Monday and have her give me a prescription for birth control pills."

Bill, who had always been a bit of a health nut, quickly objected. "I don't want you taking hormones that you don't need. It's not healthy. They don't know what those things do over the long term. Besides that," he said as he stood and put his arms around her and nuzzled her neck, "if at some point we decide to make a baby, I don't want to have to wait. I don't mind using a condom. Don't worry about it."

Michelle found Bill's comments strange, but not necessarily out of character knowing his stand on natural medicines and health. She had never met a man who "didn't mind" using a condom. They did it when they had to, but none that she had ever met liked it. His comment about a baby surprised her, too. They had been dating for three weeks. There were no long term plans at all let alone any that included a baby. Where had that come from? She tried to push it to the back of her mind but it nagged at her anyway.

Over the next few months Bill's love for Michelle deepened. She wished that she felt the same way but the truth was that she didn't and she was sure that she never would. That fact didn't seem to disturb her, though. They continued to date and, since Erin Driscoll came back to CTU and Michelle was back at Division, to see each other almost every day. They spent most weekends either at Bill's house or away from LA at some romantic getaway. They had gone to Newport Beach and Santa Barbara, San Francisco and a ranch in Nevada. Michelle had to admit that she had fun with Bill. And for his part, Bill loved to dote on Michelle and he spent all kinds of time trying to make sure that their time together was special. After dating for over six months, Bill asked Michelle to move in with him. She resisted at first but as the lease on her apartment came up, she relented and moved into his house. She knew that Bill was soon going to want her to get married. That thought scared her at first but she assumed that eventually she would have no choice. Although she didn't love him, she liked having Bill in her life and she couldn't continue to string him along without making a long term commitment to him. She also knew that marrying Bill wasn't a bad thing and most women would be more than content with the relationship that they had. She just couldn't get past the fact that her first marriage had been much better than most and that this marriage, when it happened, would be little more than average.

In Washington, Tony found that dating was really more fun that he had thought it might be. His first few dates were all successful. Lisa liked romantic dates, so the concert in the park was perfect for her. She also liked sappy movies and long walks on nature trails. Jo, on the other hand, was very athletic. Dates with Jo always had to involve hiking in the nearby Catoctin Mountains or biking long distances. Abby liked watching sports and action movies. She enjoyed cooking and loved to go antiquing in some of the old towns nearby.

It didn't take long for Tony to decide that Jo was not really his type. He was so exhausted after a date with Jo that he almost had to take the next day off of work to recover. He wondered with amusement what sex with her would be like but decided that he would never find out. Two dates with her was enough. He decided to spend his energies on Lisa and Abby, both of whom he found more to his liking.

It took him a couple more months to sort out his feeling for the two of them, but eventually decided that, although Lisa was a lovely woman, he was happier when he was with Abby. He allowed the relationship with Lisa to die a natural death and they remained friends. Tony began pursuing Abby in earnest. They started meeting every morning to go running before work. The two of them had fun even if all they did was cook dinner together and watch a movie. Abby got along well with Jack and Audrey so the four of them often double dated. Time passed and Tony and Abby became closer and closer.

None of that stopped Tony from thinking about Michelle. He loved her and there was no way around it. He cared for Abby and she made him happy. He could even imagine spending his life with her but he didn't love her. He enjoyed their physical relationship as well, but when they made love, he had to concentrate on the fact that he was with Abby and not Michelle. It wasn't that Abby didn't excite him; she did. She knew exactly how to turn him on. He did his best to push Michelle to the back of his mind but it didn't always work.

Tony wondered how she was and if she was happy. Kim and Chase had been in Washington visiting Jack and Tony asked Kim if she ever saw Michelle. Kim shook her head and said that she didn't but she talked to Chloe occasionally. Chloe told her that Michelle was seeing Bill Buchanan and it appeared to be serious. In fact, she thought that they were living together. Tony acted happy for her and told Kim that if she ever saw Michelle to give her his best.

Since Michelle had clearly moved on, Tony resigned himself to the fact that she would never be his again. Part of him was sad, but the other part of him knew that he had a wonderful woman in his life now and he needed to set his sights on a future with her.


	5. Difficult Decisions

_Hi everyone and thanks again for the reviews. Based on the reviews for chapter 4, it's pretty clear that you all want Tony and Michelle to be together again. Hang in there. It might be a while, but don't lose hope. I'll try not to play with you too long._

_Last night was the 24 season 4 finale in the US. I won't spoil it for those of you who haven't seen it, but in my opinion it was the best finale since season 1 and it wasn't nearly as sad as season 1. The writers have set up a million possibilities for season 5. So, come on January! In the meantime, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with fanfiction._

_Enjoy chapter 5 and please, please, please review!_

Chapter 5: Difficult Decisions

Michelle sat on the edge of the bed stunned. She was staring at the home pregnancy test, staring at the positive result trying to comprehend it. She had done the test twice and it was positive both times. How had this happened? They were always so careful. Bill always used a condom. How could she have possibly gotten pregnant?

She hadn't really noticed when she got up on Monday morning that her period hadn't started. She was usually pretty regular and almost always started on Monday morning. That morning she was busy helping Bill get ready so he could catch a 7:05am flight to Houston for a conference. It wasn't until she got home that night that it occurred to her that her period should have started already. Oh well, she thought, it will probably start tomorrow. By Tuesday morning her period still hadn't started. That was unusual, but still didn't alarm her. She was under a lot of stress at work and frankly, at home, Bill was putting a lot of pressure on her to get married. They had been living together for eight months and had been together for over a year. He was anxious to get married, but she continued to resist. They were living together she told him, why did the need to get married. How would marriage change anything?

Michelle convinced herself that stress was causing her to be late and put any other concerns out of her head. She didn't even bother to tell Bill when she talked to him Tuesday evening. Wednesday came and went and no sign of a period. On her way home from work that evening she stopped at a drug store and bought a pregnancy test. She was sure that she was over reacting but decided to buy it anyway. She read through the directions but decided not to take the test until the next morning. If she hadn't started by Thursday, then she would definitely take the test.

She slept poorly Wednesday night wondering if it was actually possible that she was pregnant. She knew Bill wouldn't mind; that would be an excuse for them to get married. At 5 o'clock she finally got out of bed. She just couldn't lay there any longer. She found herself praying that her period had started, but it hadn't. Michelle sighed and took out the pregnancy test, read the directions again and finally took the test. At first she refused to believe the positive result, so she repeated the test. A second positive result couldn't be ignored. She really was pregnant.

She put her hand on her stomach trying to make herself understand that a baby was growing in there; Bill's baby was in there. Why was this happening? She didn't want a baby. No, that wasn't correct. She didn't want Bill's baby. If this was Tony's baby she would have been deliriously happy, beside herself with joy. She could just imagine Tony's reaction. He would have picked her up and spun her around and they would have laughed and cried and kissed. It would have been wonderful.

It was 7 o'clock before she pulled herself together enough to call Bill. As soon as his phone went to voice mail she remembered that he was on the plane returning to LA. He was coming from the airport to the office and should be there by late morning. Since Bill would be at work, she decided the best thing to do was go to work and she could tell him there. So she absently showered and dressed and drove to work almost numb to all that was going on around her.

Her work day started with a meeting at CTU. It was long and boring. God! Erin Driscoll certainly did love to hear herself talk! Michelle was completely unfocused and had to ask Erin to repeat herself more than once. She was grateful when the meeting was over and she drove directly to Division.

She parked her car and went into her office.

"Good morning, Ms. Dessler," her secretary, Serena, said.

"Hi, Serena," she said without looking up.

"Mr. Buchanan stopped by a few minutes ago to see you. I told him that you would be back from CTU soon. Do you want me to let him know you're here?"

"No, I'll go back to his office. Thank you," Michelle replied.

She didn't even stop to put down her purse or her briefcase before heading off to Bill's office. His office was more secluded than hers and right now she wanted them to have some privacy. She had been able to keep her emotions in check up until now, but she was sure that when she had to say the word "pregnant" out loud that she was going to start crying. She made her way to Bill's office and said hello to his secretary.

"Is he busy?" she asked.

"He's on the phone with Mr. Cohen over at District, but I'm sure it's okay if you go in."

Michelle thanked her and opened the door to Bill's office.

"Ms. Dessler, could you do me a favor and tell Mr. Buchanan that I'm going to lunch. I'll be back around 12:30."

Michelle nodded and continued into the office. Bill looked up when he heard the door open. He smiled and beckoned her to come in and sit down. Michelle walked in but remained standing. She looked out the window as if the view suddenly interested her.

Bill finished up his call. "Hi Sweetheart!" he said as he kissed her. "I missed you."

Michelle pulled away and turned her back. "We need to talk," she said, her voice quivering.

"Michelle, what's wrong?" Bill asked suddenly concerned.

"I don't know how this happened," she said with tears now streaming down her face. "Bill, I'm pregnant."

"You are? That's wonderful, Michelle." He pulled her into his arms and held her. "Why are you crying? You're happy about this aren't you?"

"Happy? We've never talked about children. We're not even married."

"We can fix that. You know I've wanted to get married. Now you have no excuse, it's time for us to get married."

"I still can't figure out how this happened. We always use a condom."

"Sometimes they fail, Honey. Don't cry. Once you're over the initial shock I'm sure you'll be thrilled. Think about it, Michelle! We're having a baby!" he exclaimed. Bill had an enormous smile on his face.

Michelle was surprised by Bill's reaction. She knew that he would be happy about it, but she expected him to at least be surprised. He wasn't surprised at all. It was almost as if he _expected _her to tell him that she was pregnant. In her line of work, Michelle was constantly analyzing situations and, as a result, she was the same way in her everyday life. Something about this didn't add up.

"You aren't surprised about this are you?" she asked him pointedly.

"Of course I am. I'm as surprised as you are," he said as he turned and walked away from her. He was lying and she knew it.

It all started to become clear to her. They had gone on a wine tasting tour in the Napa Valley a couple of weeks ago. Bill had planned the trip and had repeatedly told her how romantic it would be. He even planned the trip around her period. He told her that he wanted her to enjoy a long weekend of good wine and good food and plenty of love. Now she understood. He wasn't keeping track of her periods just to work around them, he was calculating when she would be most fertile. On top of it all, she had so much wine on that trip that she was horny as hell and had no idea whether he used condoms or not. They had had sex so many times over the four day weekend that she was uncomfortable sitting on the plane on the way home. She suddenly remembered how odd she considered his comments from a year ago about not minding condoms. Of course he didn't mind them; he could choose when and if he was using them. Oh, it was all clear now.

Her voice became low and angry. "You planned this, didn't you? Look at me and tell me that you didn't plan this."

"Why would I have planned this?" Bill asked defensively.

"I didn't ask _why_ you planned it. I asked _if_ you planned it. Don't bother to deny it, I know you did. You son of a bitch! That trip to Napa, it was supposed to be a romantic weekend."

"It was a romantic weekend. Maybe I did forget to use a condom. We were drinking, Michelle, and as I recall you were pretty damn hot for me. I guess in our haste to make love, I forgot."

"We didn't 'make love', Bill, we mated! Animals do that! The male tracks down the female when she's in heat. Is that all I was that weekend, a bitch in heat? And I guess you were the alpha male who was responsible for survival of the species." Michelle shouted at him. "And, as I recall, you were never drunk. I was the one doing all of the drinking. You filled my glass every chance you got. You needed me to stay drunk so I didn't notice that you weren't using a condom."

"Keep you voice down!" he admonished her. Although the office was secluded he wanted to make sure that no one heard the argument.

"I will not!" she shouted back. "You Bastard! I can't believe you did this to me. You tricked me into getting pregnant so that I'd marry you."

"Michelle, marriage and a child aren't bad things. I thought you wanted them."

"At some point, maybe and on my terms. I didn't expect to be tricked into them." She stopped for a moment to get her breath. "How can I ever trust you again? I'll never know if you're telling me the truth or lying to get your way. You can't imagine how much I hate you right now." Michelle turned and began to walk out of the office.

"Where are you going?" he asked her.

"To get rid of your child!" she answered angrily. "I don't want it and I don't want you!"

She stepped quickly out of his office and nearly ran to a rear exit so that no one would see her. Bill moved quickly after her, but didn't run after her for fear of creating a scene. She was in her car before he could reach her. His first thought was to follow her, but he didn't have his keys. By the time he went back to his office and got them she would be long gone. He considered tracking her on satellite, but that type of software was available at CTU, not at Division. If he called CTU and asked for them to track someone, he would have to provide an explanation. He couldn't exactly tell them that they were tracking Michelle.

Bill pulled out his cell phone and called her. The phone rang several times but when she didn't answer the call went into her voice mail. Bill left a desperate message. "Michelle, Honey, I'm sorry. I was wrong. I understand that now. Please don't do anything that you're going to regret. Please just come back and we'll talk. I love you, Michelle."

Michelle knew when her phone rang that it was Bill. When she reached a stop light she found the phone in the bottom of her purse and turned it off. She continued driving toward an LA suburb. She knew exactly where she was going. She had passed the building hundreds of times and had wondered what kind of desperation would lead a woman to go there. Now she knew. Now she was that desperate woman.

She parked her car in the small parking lot and went inside. She stood silently just inside the door and looked around the room. She was standing in a waiting room filled with women. Some of them were sitting alone, others with women who could have been friends or mothers. Still others were with men. All of them looked uncomfortable and kept their eyes down.

Michelle hesitated and then walked to the receptionist desk. "Can I help you?" asked a pleasant middle aged woman that reminded Michelle of her mother.

"Yeah, I just found out that I'm pregnant and I need to have an abortion," she answered self consciously. It didn't seem so bad until she had to say it out loud.

The woman handed her a clipboard with several forms and a long questionnaire. "You'll need to fill this out. After that we'll do some blood work and then you'll see the doctor. If you still want to have an abortion at that point, you'll need to make an appointment for early next week. When you come in for that appointment you'll need to bring someone with you to drive you home."

"I don't want to wait that long," Michelle told her nervously.

"I'm sorry, that's the way we do it. This is a big decision and you need to have some time to think it through. Just have a seat and fill out the forms."

"How long until I can see the doctor?"

"I can't give you an exact time, but right now I would guess about an hour and a half."

Michelle thanked her and sat down to fill out the forms. As she did, she raised her eyes every once in a while to look at the women around her. A couple of them were very young, probably no more than 16 and were with women who she guessed were their mothers. Another looked totally strung out as did the man sitting with her. One girl who appeared to be college age sat alone and looked terrified. Michelle looked at the others and wondered what their stories were. She wondered what they were thinking about her.

She looked down again and tried to concentrate on the forms. It took her almost 40 minutes to get through all of them. She returned them to the desk and the receptionist directed her to the lab to have blood drawn. Once that was complete Michelle went back to the waiting room and sat down. A pile of old magazines were on the table next to her. She picked one up and leafed through it trying to kill some time. A few pages into it an advertisement featured a woman holding a baby. She quickly turned the page unable to look at it. Several pages later there was a picture of a baby playing with a puppy. It was a pretty baby with a little bit of soft hair and big blue eyes. She closed the magazine and picked up another. Similar pictures seemed to be all through it. It was as if they were following her, mocking her. She put that magazine down and just stared off into space.

"Ms. Dessler?" a voice called from the far end of the room.

Michelle stood quickly and walked toward her. "I'm Michelle Dessler," she told the woman.

"Follow me. The doctor is going to examine you and talk to you about the procedure."

Michelle was led into an examining room. She undressed and put on a paper gown and sat on the examining table waiting for the doctor.

It was about 15 minutes before a middle aged woman walked in the room. "Ms. Dessler," she said, "I'm Dr. Abrams."

Michelle shook hands with her and said hello. The situation didn't seem to warrant exchanging pleasantries or engaging in idle conversation.

Dr. Abrams looked over the papers Michelle had filled out. Then she looked up over her half-rimmed reading glasses. She was blunt and to the point. "You found out this morning that you're pregnant and you don't want to be. Is that correct?"

Michelle nodded. She made it all sound so simple.

"The blood work we did earlier confirmed that you are pregnant. Let me examine you and then we'll talk." Her tone seemed to soften a bit. "Lie down and put your feet in the stirrups."

Dr. Abrams examined her methodically, impersonally. Clearly she did this dozens of times each day and she couldn't afford to develop any emotional attachments to her patients. Michelle could feel tear filling her eyes.

"I'm sorry. Am I hurting you?" Dr. Abrams asked as a couple of tears made their way out of the corners of Michelle's eyes.

"No," Michelle said trying hard not to cry.

"I'm almost finished," the doctor said compassion filling her voice. "I know this is very upsetting. We'll talk in a few minutes."

Dr. Abrams finished and helped Michelle sit up. "Go ahead and get dressed," she said as she washed her hands, "and I'll meet you in my office. It's the last door on the left."

Michelle nodded. "Okay," she said just above a whisper. She felt like a child on her way to the principal's office. She waited until Dr. Abrams left then got dressed.

It seemed like she waited hours in Dr. Abrams office but in fact it was more like 20 minutes. Michelle checked her cell phone and found that she had four messages from Bill. She deleted all four without listening to them. She didn't care what he had to say.

Dr. Abrams walked into the office and closed the door behind her. She said nothing as she sat down behind her desk. She took off her glasses and looked hard at Michelle. "Ms. Dessler, you aren't my typical patient. You're older then most of my patients. You're well educated and you have a good job. You're healthy. You don't appear to have a substance abuse problem and I can't find any evidence that you are in a physically abusive relationship. Why do you want to have an abortion?"

"I didn't exactly plan this pregnancy," Michelle answered.

"Lot's of pregnancies aren't planned and the women still have the baby. Do you know who the father is?"

"Of course I do!" Michelle said defensively.

"Does he know about the baby?"

"Yes." She nodded.

"Is he in agreement with the abortion?"

Michelle looked away as she shook her head.

"Then why do _you_ want it?" the doctor asked pointedly.

Michelle couldn't answer. Tears streamed down her face as she put her head in her hands. The doctor came around the desk and put her hand on Michelle's shoulder. "Michelle, this is a decision that will effect you forever. Take a few days and really think this over. Talk to the baby's father. If next week you can tell me that you've weighed the pros and cons and you still think it's the best thing to do, we'll schedule it.

Michelle nodded; she couldn't speak through her sobs.

"Sit here until you get yourself together," Dr. Abrams said as she handed Michelle a box of tissues. "Whatever decision you make, I hope everything works out for you."

The doctor left and closed the door. Michelle sat for a few minutes until she had calmed down, then she gathered up her purse and some pamphlets they had given her and made her way to her car. It was almost 5 o'clock and she wasn't quite sure what to do next. She couldn't go home and she couldn't go back to work. She could go to her parents' house, but then she would have to explain and she wasn't ready for that. After sitting in her car for a while she decided to take a drive and clear her head. Michelle started the engine and put the car in gear. It seemed to know where to go all by itself.

There was a quiet stretch of beach that she and Tony had discovered years ago. At one end was a crowded public beach but if you walked about a mile, the beach became rocky and wasn't good for swimming. Even the sand was coarse and hard on bare feet. She and Tony would climb on the rocks and talk about their future. She wondered what Tony was doing right now. She wondered if he was happy.

It was probably better that Michelle didn't know what Tony was doing at that moment because it would have upset her even more than she already was. It was a beautiful spring evening in Washington DC. The air was filled with the scent of the cherry blossoms in bloom along the banks of the Tidal Basin. By Saturday there would be hundreds of thousands of tourists who had flocked to the Capitol City to see the breathtaking sight.

Although he knew they were there, he barely noticed the cherry blossoms. He was too nervous. Tony and Abby had just had dinner at one of the most exclusive restaurants in Washington and were walking off dessert along the Tidal Basin.

"The trees are beautiful this year!" Abby exclaimed.

"They are," Tony agreed absently as they walked. He reached over and brushed away a pale pink petal that had fallen from a tree and landed on Abby's hair. "Come here," he said as he walked toward a bench. "Sit down."

"Why do you want to sit?" Abby asked.

"I want to ask you a question," he told her.

"We can walk and talk at the same time," she said with a smile.

"I want your undivided attention."

"Okay," she said as she sat down. "You have my undivided attention. Now what did you want to ask me?"

"I wanted to ask you what you thought of this," he said as he took a box from his pocket. He opened the box to reveal a diamond and ruby engagement ring.

"Oh, Tony! It's beautiful," she gasped.

"Abby, would you marry me?" he asked quietly.

"Oh, Tony!" she said again. "Oh! Yes, of course I'll marry you." Tony carefully placed the ring on Abby's finger. She stared at it for a moment almost in disbelief. Then she wrapped her arms around him and they kissed.

It was a bittersweet moment for Tony. He cared deeply for Abby and knew that she loved him with all of her heart. She would be a wonderful wife and maybe someday, a mother to his children. He knew that she would go out of her way to make him happy. And she did make him happy, but she could never replace Michelle in his heart.


	6. A Long Night

_Wow! I was overwhelmed by the reviews for the last chapter. It definitely evoked some strong emotions. At this point, virtually everyone hates Bill (not necessarily what I planned). And the abortion issue is hot. One reviewer wants Michelle to have an abortion immediately, while another said she'll stop reading if Michelle has an abortion. Still another is fundamentally opposed to abortion but wonders what she would do given the same situation. When I wrote this, I simply set out to offer a little diversion from reality and am surprised that I have struck as many nerves as I have. To tell the truth, I wrote this on a whim and I don't even think that it is my best story!_

_Regardless of what you think, please keep reading and reviewing. I love to hear your opinions. _

Chapter 6: A Long Night

Michelle fought the rush hour traffic and finally reached the beach. It was virtually deserted by that hour. A hot dog vendor was packing up for the day. Michelle suddenly realized that she hadn't eaten anything all day and she was ravenous. It occurred to her that she had a baby inside of her that was depending on her for food, so she stopped and bought a hot dog, a bag of chips and a bottle of water. Not exactly nutritious, but it would do for now. She walked along a sea wall and nibbled on the hot dog. She wasn't quite sure what made her think about the baby's nutrition. She really didn't plan on carrying the baby much longer. She pushed that thought away and walked toward the rocky area that she and Tony loved.

As she walked, she listened to the surf pounding the shore. The spring air was cool as the sun moved lower in the sky. Three kids were flying kites on the beach. She watched them run along as the kites became airborne. They were laughing and shouting.

"Mine's higher than yours!" shouted a girl.

"Is not," was the response.

"Is so!" the girl shouted back. "Mom! Isn't mine higher?"

A couple sat on a blanket nearby. Each was reading a book but took time every few seconds to look up at the children. Occasionally they spoke to each other or called out to one of the children to "be careful" or "watch where you're going". Otherwise they were quiet, just enjoying the evening.

Michelle finally reached the outcropping of rocks. She climbed onto a low one and sat down. It was still warm from the afternoon sun. The clouds and the setting sun were making amazing colors in the sky and reflecting them on the water. It was an awesome sight. What a miracle it all was that the sun should rise and set every day and that the tide should roll in and out like clockwork. She looked at a rock formation and thought that it, too, was a miracle. The water had carved it by pounding it year after year for centuries. Not all miracles were as big or as noticeable. That two incomplete cells could have come together inside of her to create a baby was certainly a miracle.

Again she pushed any thought of the baby out of her head. Don't get attached to it, she thought. She couldn't think about the baby right now. At this moment what she really needed to think about was what to do next. She would have to move out of Bill's house as soon as possible. Where would she stay until she could find a place of her own? She could stay with her parents, but she'd rather die than move back in with them. She could move into a hotel for a couple of weeks, but that would get expensive. Kate Warner probably has extra room, she thought. No, Kate was still friends with Jack and would tell him that she moved out of Bill's house. Anything that Kate told Jack was likely to get back to Tony. Maybe she could stay with one of her other friends, but none of them really had room for a house guest.

Okay, she would think about where to live later. What was she going to do about work? How could she keep working at Division with Bill there? She wondered if there were any openings at CTU or District. Maybe she could leave LA; start over some place else.

It was all so confusing. Thoughts and ideas swirled around in her head. It was almost nine o'clock and the sun had set. The air was cooler and she pulled her jacket around her and buttoned it for warmth. The rock was no longer warm so she climbed down off of it and sat in the sand at its base where it shielded her from the wind. She leaned against the rock wishing that she had someone to talk to. She had plenty of friends but none that she wanted to talk to at the moment. None that she wanted to explain her situation to. There was only one person that she wanted to talk to right now. The only person that she ever felt she could completely open up to: Tony.

It was almost midnight on the east coast, but Tony had always been a night owl. She knew that he was probably awake watching a late night talk show or a recap of the day's sports. She took out her phone and looked through her list of numbers. She didn't know why she had programmed Tony's phone number into her phone. She never called him. Several months ago she got his office and cell numbers off of a listing of NSA employees and put them both into her phone. She rationalized it by telling herself that he was a liaison to the CIA and therefore she could have reason to call him some day. She looked at his number on the display for a long time and weighed her desire to keep her personal life secret from Tony against her desire to someone who really understood her. Twice she almost pressed "send" but stopped herself just short. Why was she calling Tony? She screwed up with him, left him and walked out. How was he going to help her right now? She closed the phone and put it back in her purse but not before noticing another four messages from Bill. Again she deleted them all without listening to any of them.

By 9 o'clock Bill was frantic. He had called everyone Michelle knew looking for her. He had spent the afternoon calling hospitals and abortion clinics. Hospitals could tell him that she hadn't been admitted as a patient but nothing more. Abortion clinics sited patient confidentiality and refused to say if she was there. A woman at one clinic seemed a bit flustered and Bill pushed her to tell him more, but she wouldn't. After that he put a trace on her credit and bank cards. If she tried to use them he would be alerted. At least then he would know where she was and that she was alright.

Bill sat at his desk at Division wondering what to do next. Michelle hadn't been gone long enough for the police to consider her a missing person. Besides that, she wasn't missing nearly as much as she didn't want to be found. Or more correctly, she didn't want him to find her.

God! How could I have been so stupid? Bill thought. What possessed me to try such a stupid trick? He had badly miscalculated. It never occurred to him that she would be so unhappy about being pregnant. Nor had it occurred to him that she would realize that he had planned the whole thing. Frankly, when he came up with the idea it didn't seem nearly so calculating or manipulative as it did right now. He loved Michelle so much that it hurt and now he had done something unforgivable. At this point he actually feared for her safety. She was so distraught when she left that she could have gone anywhere and done anything. Frankly, at the moment an abortion was the least of his worries.

Bill looked at his watch for the tenth time in the last half hour. He decided that it was time to call Michelle's parents and see if they had heard from her. This ought to be a pleasant conversation, he thought sarcastically. Michelle's parents had never been crazy about him. They were still upset with her for leaving Tony. It was a rift that had never fully been mended and Michelle's relationship with her parents had suffered over the last couple of years. The phone rang twice before Leslie Dessler answered.

"Hello."

"Leslie, it's Bill."

Leslie was instantly on alert. Michelle rarely called and Bill never did. "Oh, hi Bill. What can I do for you?"

"I was just wondering if you had heard from Michelle today."

"No, not today. Why? Is something wrong?"

"We had an argument earlier and she walked out. I haven't been able to get in touch with her since. I thought maybe she called you or came over there."

"Oh, is that all! Bill she's done that for years. When she was in college, we'd have an argument and she'd go sit in the school library until they closed and then she'd go to an all night coffee chop and drink coffee until 2 in the morning. Michelle has a temper, but she'll cool off and come home when she wants to. By the time she gets home and gets a decent night's sleep she'll have forgotten what the argument was all about. You don't need to worry about her. If she left on her own, she's fine."

Bill wished that he was as confident as Michelle's mother. She had no idea what this argument was about. This was far worse than any argument that Leslie and Michelle ever had. Bill tried to sound relieved. "Thanks, Leslie. That makes me feel better. I guess I'll just wait for her to come home."

"If you want a little advise, Bill, I suggest that you just act like nothing happened. If she's not home by bedtime, go to bed. Let her think that it didn't bother you. I know once I started doing that, this running away act lost its shock value and she didn't do it very often any more."

"Thanks, Leslie. Maybe I'll try that."

They disconnected and Bill sighed. He got up from his chair and began pacing around his office. He considered going home and doing just what Leslie Dessler told him to do. She was right. Michelle was probably fine.

There was only one person that he hadn't contacted yet who he thought Michelle might have turned to. It was a long shot, but he decided to try it. He sat down at his computer and pulled up a list of NSA employees. He found Tony's cell phone number and dialed it. It was midnight in Washington and he hated to disturb anyone so late, but felt it was his only option. The phone was answered by a sleepy sounding woman.

"Hello," she said.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, ma'am, but I'm trying to locate Tony Almeida. Is he there?"

"Yeah, he's right here," Abby said. "Who's calling?"

"This is Bill Buchanan from the CIA."

"Hang on. I'll get him." Abby covered the receiver and turned to Tony who was lying next to her.

"Who is it?" he queried.

"Bill Buchanan from the CIA."

"Bill Buchanan? Why would he be calling me?" Tony took the phone. Although he occasionally got work related calls late at night, if the CIA needed to contact him, they had a liaison to NSA in Washington who would have called him. "Bill, it's Tony. What's up?"

"Tony, I'm sorry to bother you at this hour. I just wondered if you've heard from Michelle."

"Michelle? I haven't heard from Michelle since I left LA. Why would she have contacted me?"

"I don't know. I just thought she might try."

"Is she alright?"

"I don't know that either. We had an argument this morning. She stormed out of Division and I haven't heard from her since."

Tony wanted to laugh. "Welcome to the club," he said sarcastically. "She did the same thing to me. The next time I heard from her it was through her lawyer and she wanted a divorce." He paused for a moment. "Seriously, Bill, Michelle is fine and she'll come back if and when she wants to. She's a survivor. You're also not going to find her if she doesn't want to be found. She knows how to cover her trail. You're better off letting her come home on her own terms."

"You're probably right," Bill conceded. "I'm sorry to bother you, Tony. Thank you."

Tony hung up the phone and handed it to Abby to put back on the nightstand. "What was that all about?" she asked.

"It's the guy my ex-wife is living with. They had a fight and she walked out. He can't find her and he's worried about her. I told him that she can take care of herself."

"Why did he think you would know where she was?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I think he's probably desperate and was calling anyone he could think of. Forget it. Let's go to sleep. You tired me out," he told her as he kissed the tip of her nose. "You were quite the animal a little while ago."

"That's what happens when a man gives me diamonds," Abby teased him.

She rolled over on her side and pressed her back against his front. Tony put his arm around her and stared into the darkness. They both lay quietly for ten minutes or so when Abby spoke. "Tony?"

"Yes," he whispered in reply.

"Are you worried about her?"

"Am I worried about Michelle?"

"Yes."

"Not really. Why do you ask?"

"I just wondered," she said.

A minute or two passed before either of them spoke. It was Abby who broke the silence again. "Do you still love her?" she asked. Something in Tony's voice bothered her. She couldn't put her finger on it, but she heard that same quality in his voice any time that he spoke of Michelle.

Tony thought for a moment before he answered. "I guess I still care for her. I certainly don't want anything bad to happen to her."

"That's not what I asked, Tony. I asked if you still _love_ her."

"I loved her enough to marry her. You can't just turn that off. I suppose in some way I do love her, but not in the same way that I love you." He kissed her head. "Honey, if you're worried that I don't love you, stop right now. I asked you to marry me tonight and I meant it. I want to spend my life with you. Now let's go to sleep and dream about that future."

Tony must have reassured her because before long Abby's slow, steady breathing signaled to Tony that she was asleep. He, unfortunately, was wide awake. Bill's call concerned him. He suspected that Michelle was fine and he also suspected that he knew where she was. He and Michelle always went to the beach when they needed to think or to talk something out. Old habits die hard and he bet that Michelle was sitting on a rock right now calming down and deciding what to do next. He almost told Bill but decided against it. If Michelle needed some time alone, who was he to ruin it? Tony wondered what Michelle and Bill could have argued over that would have resulted in her leaving work. Obviously Bill was concerned for her safety. He had to be desperate to call Tony.

Tony sighed. He thought that he was finally over Michelle. After all, he was starting a new life with Abby. But Bill's call just reminded him how much he still cared for her. No, it made him realize how much he still loved her. It concerned him that he couldn't even mask that enough to hide it from Abby. Michelle was his first love and he feared that she would still have his heart the day he died.

Michelle was still huddled against the rock when she awoke with a start. She thought she heard a baby crying but realized that it was just a gull squawking over head. She stretched and wondered how long she had been sleeping. She must have been exhausted from having so little sleep last night and all of the emotion of today. It was too dark for her to see her watch. She found her phone in the bottom of her purse and pulled it out to read the display. It was 12:42 am and there were four more messages from Bill. He must be half crazy by now. She thought about calling him but chose not to; not until she decided what she was going to do about her current situation.

Her head seemed clearer now that she had gotten a few hours of sleep. At least her thoughts weren't swirling any more and she could focus. She put her head back and looked up at the stars. She knew in her heart that there was no way that she could have an abortion. As much as the circumstances of this pregnancy didn't make her happy, the baby was half hers. If she was so against having a baby, she shouldn't have abdicated the responsibility of birth control to Bill. She had always wanted a child and she was almost 35. Time was becoming her enemy. Being a single parent wasn't something she thought she would do well with; she had no desire to raise the child on her own. She knew that Bill would love the baby and be a good father and she wanted the baby to grow up with two parents. Bill wasn't the man she wanted to spend her life with, but that man was gone and the fact that he was gone was her fault. If her life was screwed up, it was her own fault and she wasn't going to make her baby pay for that.

In the stillness of the night she was also willing to admit that although forcing her into an unwanted pregnancy was wrong on Bill's part, what she had done to Bill was wrong, too. She had forced a relationship just so she wouldn't be alone, so she would have someone to care for her. She had never loved Bill and could never love him the way he deserved to be loved. In the meantime, he had given his heart and soul to her. He wanted her to carry his child. What she had done to this sweet man was, in her mind, unforgivable. She had accepted his unconditional love while returning little if any of it.

The night had become unpleasantly cold and damp. Michelle got up and brushed the sand from her business suit; it was time to go home. She walked along the beach and back to her car. It was close to 4 o'clock when she finally arrived home.

Bill was drinking a vodka and tonic and thought that he had probably paced a hundred miles today when he finally heard Michelle's keys in the door. He set down the drink and practically ran to the door as she walked in.

"Oh, thank God you're alright. Michelle, I was so worried about you," Bill said. He instinctively reached for her. The relief in his voice was clear. "I'm so sorry, Sweetheart. I know what I did was wrong and I don't know if there's any way to make it right. I'll do whatever you ask."

Michelle set her purse on the floor and closed the door behind her. "We need to talk." She took his hand and led him to the sofa. "We've both made mistakes, Bill. I'm as responsible for this mess as you are. All I ever wanted was someone to keep me company and to be there when I needed him. You wanted a long term, committed relationship. I knew that and yet I allowed the relationship to continue. That was wrong and I'm sorry. I should have never led you on that way."

Bill stood and picked up his drink. He kept his back turned toward Michelle. She wasn't telling him anything that he didn't already know, but it was hard to hear nonetheless. "You still love Tony, don't you?"

"Yes," she said. There was no point in lying. "I don't mean to try and justify my actions but I loved you, I still love you, just not the same way I love Tony. Truthfully, I doubt that I could ever love anyone the way I love Tony. But the bottom line here is that regardless of what we've done to each other, we're not just talking about ourselves here, we have a baby to think about."

Bill turned and looked at her unable to hide the surprise on his face. "I thought you were going to…" he couldn't make himself say it.

Michelle shook her head and looked at the floor. "I couldn't bring myself to do it. I talked to a doctor about it but I couldn't do it." Michelle raised her eyes to meet Bill's. "So, I guess we're going to be parents." The corners of her mouth curled faintly into a smile.


	7. Moving On

_Hi and thanks again for all of the reviews. I have gotten more reviews for this story to this point than I would have imagined getting for the whole story! You guys are great. If you're lurking out there and haven't reviewed, please let me know you're there. I accept anonymous reviews._

_I think it's interesting that everyone seems to hate Bill as much as they do. Clearly what he did was wrong, but Michelle was using him, so she's not blameless. Here's chapter 7. Hope you enjoy and keep the reviews coming!_

Chapter 7: Moving On

Four months later Michelle was once again in her weekly briefing with Erin Driscoll at CTU. And, once again, Erin was droning on while Michelle was trying hard to focus. She looked down at the statistics that Erin was reviewing and as she did the light glinting off of her wedding band caught her eye. She didn't know why but she was self-conscious about it and she shifted her hand so that the ring was covered by the papers she was holding. She and Bill had been married at the Orange County Courthouse about two weeks after she discovered that she was pregnant. They left work together at about 3 o'clock that day without saying anything to their coworkers. Both sets of parents were waiting for them at the courthouse and the six of them went out to dinner after the ceremony that lasted less than ten minutes. They went back to work the next day as if nothing had happened. It wasn't until some of their colleagues noticed their rings that they admitted that they had gotten married.

The totally lackluster wedding had been appropriately followed by a lackluster marriage. Both of them focused on the baby since it was the only real reason that they got married in the first place. The caring relationship they had before Michelle's pregnancy seemed to be gone. Michelle now found that she had difficulty trusting Bill knowing how he had set her up to become pregnant. Bill, on the other hand, found his love for Michelle waning since she so freely admitted that she still loved Tony. In his heart, he knew that all along but the fact that Michelle was so willing to admit it was more painful than he could bear. They both hoped that the birth of their child would give them some common ground to rekindle the relationship that had been at least caring and satisfying to them in the past.

Michelle shifted in her chair again. She simply couldn't get comfortable today. She thought that she was over her morning sickness but had gotten up this morning just vaguely nauseous. As the morning progressed, in addition to being nauseous, she was also starting to develop some abdominal cramps. She started thinking about what she had eaten in the last 24 hours that had so obviously disagreed with her system. Michelle was grateful that the meeting was wrapping up. The cramps were becoming worse and she decided that after the meeting she would call over to Division and tell them that she was not feeling well and was going home for the day. As the meeting ended, Michelle began to stand up from the table when her abdominal cramps became so intense that she let out an involuntary cry of pain, doubled over and dropped back into her chair.

"Michelle! What's wrong?" Erin cried as she ran to her side. Michelle was in too much pain to answer. "Curtis, help me get her to medical."

The pain seemed to dissipate and Michelle sat up straight. "No, I think I'll be alright. I'm going to go home and lie down." She started to stand up and again was overtaken by pain and fell back into the chair.

"You're going straight to medical," Erin told her. She and Curtis helped her stand up, but Michelle doubled over again, her arms wrapped protectively around her stomach.

"I can't make it," she said through clenched teeth.

"I've got you," Curtis said as he picked her up in his arms and started toward the medical unit with Erin following close behind.

They reached the medical unit in seconds and Curtis set Michelle carefully on a gurney. He and one of the nurses pushed the gurney into an examining room. Dr. Claire Anderson, who Michelle knew from her years at CTU, was less than a minute behind them.

"Michelle, what happened?" Claire asked her.

"I don't know," Michelle said trying to get her breath. "I wasn't feeling well and when I tried to stand up I started having terrible pain in my stomach."

"Have you ever had your appendix out?"

"No," Michelle answered.

"This sounds like appendicitis. I need you to lie flat so I can examine your belly."

Dr. Anderson pressed on Michelle's abdomen over and over but couldn't find the source of the ongoing pain which seemed to ebb and flow in waves. "Michelle, I'm not sure what's causing the pain." She frowned and looked at the nurse next to her. "Amy, I need you to take her down to radiology. Have them do a flat-plate x-ray of her abdomen. Before you do that, draw blood for routine labs and a pregnancy test."

"Yes, Dr. Anderson," the woman replied.

"Claire, you don't need to do the pregnancy test," Michelle said. "I'm about four months pregnant." Clair was the first person outside of Michelle's family that she had told about the pregnancy. She wasn't really showing yet, so it was easy enough to keep it a secret.

"You are?" the doctor said in a surprised voice. "Have you had any problems so far?"

"Not really. I saw the doctor last week. He seemed a little concerned that I hadn't gained enough weight. He gave me an appointment to be checked again in two weeks instead of four."

"That changes everything. Amy, make arrangements to have her transferred to Good Samaritan Hospital."

"Why are you sending me to the hospital?" Michelle asked unable to hide the alarm in her voice.

"Maybe the reason that I can't find the source of the pain is that I'm not looking in the right spot. I don't have the experience or the equipment to evaluate a potential problem with your pregnancy. You need a gynecologist to do that. Good Samaritan is the closest hospital and they have a good obstetrics and gynecology department. Even if this turns out be your appendix, they're better able to handle surgery during pregnancy than I am."

"Claire, do you think there's something wrong with the baby?"

"I don't know, Michelle, but I think that it's possible and you need to be evaluated by someone who knows a lot more about the subject than I do. Once you're on your way, I'll call Bill at Division and he can meet you at the hospital."

"He's not at Division. He's in Phoenix for a Regional Director's conference."

"Then I'll get through to him there. This is an emergency, they can disturb him," Claire said. "Now try not to worry, it only makes matters worse."

A medical transport team took Michelle to Good Samaritan Hospital where they quickly did a battery of tests on her. It seemed like either a nurse or a doctor was poking and prodding her everywhere. They drew blood and examined her abdomen again. The pain had become excruciating and Michelle just wanted them to figure out what was causing it so that they could make it stop. The doctor left the room to check some test results and it seemed like an eternity before he came back.

"Ms. Dessler, do you have any family with you?" he asked her gently.

"No, my husband is out of town. CTU is trying to contact him."

"I wish you had someone here with you right now. I'm sorry. I have some bad news for you. I've examined you and I've reviewed your ultrasound results and I can't detect any movement or heartbeat from the baby. It appears that you've suffered a miscarriage."

"You're telling me that my baby is dead?"

"Unfortunately, Ms. Dessler, yes that is what I'm telling you." He paused a moment. "I spoke with your doctor, he told me that he was concerned that when he saw you last week that you hadn't gained any weight yet and he wondered if there was a reason that the baby didn't seem to be growing."

Michelle bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. Slowly she let her head fall forward as she considered what the doctor had just told her. She remembered the conversation with her doctor but had to admit that at that time she hadn't given it much thought. She regained her composure quickly. "So what happens next? Do I have to stay in the hospital?"

"We need to do a procedure called a 'D&C'. It's minor surgery. We can do it this afternoon and you should be home by this evening. I can answer any questions that you might have and then you'll have to sign a consent form."

Michelle knew that she ought to have questions and if Bill were here, he would have a thousand questions. But at the moment she didn't have any. She shook her head. "No, I don't have any questions. I'd just like to get this over with so I can get home as soon as possible."

"I understand," said the doctor.

He explained the consent form to Michelle, but she really wasn't listening. Her mind was swirling with the news she had just been given. Four months ago she was willing to abort this baby and now it was dead. She felt more than a little bit guilty about that. But on top of it all, planning for the baby was all that was holding her marriage together at the moment. She and Bill had very little relationship left and she suspected that what was left would crumble with the loss of the baby.

Bill arrived from Phoenix on the first flight he could get. Claire Anderson was able to reach him during a break at his conference. She couldn't provide him with much in the way of details. Michelle had just left for the hospital and Claire could only speculate about the cause of her pain. Bill drove directly from the airport to the hospital. He quickly found his way to the information desk.

"My wife, Michelle Dessler, was brought in here late this morning," he told the receptionist. "Can you tell me what room she's in?"

The woman tapped in the keyboard for a moment. "Your wife is currently in the operating room, sir."

"The operating room! What are they doing?"

"I don't have any information, sir. There's a waiting room to the left of the elevator on the third floor. Let the receptionist know that you're there and someone will talk to you as soon as possible."

Bill took the elevator to the third floor and spoke with the receptionist in the waiting room. She was very nice, but didn't have any more information than the receptionist downstairs. She told Bill to have a seat and the doctor would be with him as soon as possible.

It was less than 15 minutes when a doctor came out and called Bill's name. They stepped into a private consultation room. "First and foremost, your wife is fine, Mr. Buchanan. Unfortunately, the abdominal pain she was having was the result of a miscarriage."

Bill looked down and felt his eyes fill with tears. He had so wanted that baby. He had pinned all of his hopes for the future on the child. Without the baby he wasn't sure that he and Michelle had a future. The doctor continued talking but Bill was barely listening.

"The good news," he said, "is that there doesn't appear to be any reason why you and your wife can't start trying to have another baby in the next few months."

Bill nodded and thanked him. "When can I see her?" he asked.

"She's still pretty sleepy from the anesthesia, but you can go back to the recovery room right now and wait for her to wake up. Once she's fully awake, you can take her home. She'll be sleepy this evening and she'll probably continue to have some mild cramping. The cramping should go away in a day or two."

Bill thanked him again and followed him into the recovery room. Michelle slept peacefully. Her auburn hair splayed across the white pillow. She was so pretty. Her hands lay atop the blanket that was covering her. Bill reached out and squeezed her hand.

Without opening her eyes or waking up, Michelle turned her head in his direction. "Tony," she whispered.

Bill smiled a ruefully and let go of her hand. He sat down next to her. In that one word, Michelle had told him all that he needed to know. She had just lost his baby, but in her anesthetic induced haze, it was Tony that she was thinking of. He sat back feeling old and defeated.

An hour and a half later, Michelle was awake and dressed and ready to go home. They rode home in silence. Michelle dozed much of the time still feeling the effects of the anesthesia. Bill helped her into the house and upstairs to bed. She fell back to sleep almost instantly.

Later that night Bill climbed the stairs to join her in bed. He looked at her sleeping and wondered if he should get in bed with her or go across the hall to the guest room. He hadn't made a decision yet when he walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Michelle was awake.

"Hi," she said. "Time for bed?"

"Yeah, it's getting late and I have to work tomorrow. Of course, I can stay home with you tomorrow if you need me."

"No, that's okay. I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said, "whatever you prefer."

They were silent again as Bill pulled on a pair of lounge pants and a light tee shirt. Michelle broke the silence. "Bill, I'm sorry. I know how much you wanted the baby. I feel like this is my fault. I was so angry about being pregnant at first. I never should have reacted that way. Maybe if I hadn't…"

"Don't be silly," Bill said interrupting her. "Whether you wanted the baby or not had nothing to do with the miscarriage, Michelle. You were never angry with the baby. You were angry with me and you had every right to be angry."

They were both quiet. Michelle watched as Bill put his watch and wedding ring on the dresser. She finally spoke just to break the tension. "The doctor said we need to wait a few months but then we can try to have another baby."

"Is that what you want, Michelle?" he asked without turning to face her.

"I don't know," she told him honestly. "Right now, it seems like that's all we have in common."

"I know," he told her as he sat down on the edge of the bed, "and that's not a good reason to stay together, is it?"

"Probably not," she admitted. She was quiet for a moment deciding what to say next. "Give me a few days to get myself together. I need to find a place to live."

"Take your time. I can stay in the guest room until you're ready to move. There's no rush." His voice wasn't exactly cold. Emotionless was really a better way to describe it.

"No, after tonight, I'll stay in the guest room. It's your house. I'll move my things over there tomorrow. And when I get back to work in a couple of days, I'll look at the job postings and see if I can transfer out of Division."

"You don't have to do that."

"Yeah, I do. It'll be too awkward for us if we're both there. There might be something over at District that I'm qualified for or maybe it's time for me to leave Los Angeles. I might transfer to another city. I've always like San Francisco, maybe they have an opening up there."

Bill looked at her tenderly. He reached out and stroked her face. Tears had started to make their way silently down her face. "You do whatever is best for you. I only want you to be happy, Michelle. That's all I ever wanted and clearly, I screwed up when I decided that we needed to have a child without consulting you."

"Don't do that to yourself, Bill. We both made plenty of mistakes. We've already discussed this and there's no need to rehash it. You are a wonderful man and you deserve to have a wife who loves you in a way that I simply can't. She's out there Bill, now just go and find her."

Bill nodded and smiled at her. He then turned and walked to the guest room. Michelle lay back on the bed numb from the day's events. She suddenly felt more alone than she ever had before. She rubbed her stomach knowing that her baby was gone. The pillow next to her was empty, too, signaling that her husband was gone as well.

Michelle was back at work the next Monday. The few days off had given her time to consider her future. She decided to temporarily move back in with her parents. It wasn't ideal, but it would work for a little while and would give her time to look for a job. She was thinking more and more about moving away from LA and until that decision was made, she didn't want to tie herself down with a long term lease on an apartment.

She also used the time off to contact her lawyer. He was the same one who handled her divorce from Tony. She and Bill agreed that neither would ask for anything from the other. They simply wanted to have the marriage officially dissolved in order for them both to move on.

On her first day back to work, Michelle reviewed the government on line job postings over her lunch break. She nibbled on yogurt and a granola bar while she read over the available jobs in her pay grade and those that she could be eligible to be promoted into. She had been Deputy Director at Division for almost two years now and could be promoted to Regional Director in one of the smaller regions. Several positions caught her eye. They were looking for a Deputy Director in Boston. Miami needed a CTU director. The Regional Director's position was open in Pittsburgh and another one in St. Louis. She continued to scroll down to the final listing: CIA Special Liaison to the NSA, CIA Headquarters, Langley, Virginia.

Michelle stared at the listing. It was essentially the CIA counterpart to the position that Tony held at NSA. Were the fates trying to tell her something? Or were they merely mocking her? What if she got the job? She would be working with Tony on a regular basis. Maybe they would get back together. Or maybe Tony had no interest in resuming their relationship. Tony may have moved on by now. She could be stuck working closely with him but unable to have him.

Michelle tried not to think about the possibilities. She applied for all of the positions and decided to wait and see what happened. Within two weeks she had interviews in Boston, Pittsburgh and Virginia. St. Louis and Miami had declined to interview her. After the interviews she had offers for the positions in Boston and at CIA Headquarters. It didn't take her long to make her decision. She turned down the position in Boston and accepted the move to Langley, Virginia.

After accepting the position, she gave Bill her resignation from Division. He read it quickly having expected that it was coming. He knew where she had interviewed but had otherwise tried to keep himself out of Michelle's business. "We'll miss you here, Michelle. Can I ask where you're going?"

"I'm going to Langley."

"You're going back to Tony."

"If he'll have me."

"And if not?" Bill asked. He remembered the night just a few months earlier when he called Tony and the phone was answered by a woman. The rustling of the sheets when she gave Tony the phone told Bill that the two of them weren't sitting on the sofa watching a movie when he called. He hated the thought of Michelle being hurt again.

"Then I have a new job that I think I'll enjoy and I'll start over."

"I hope it all works out for you," Bill said sincerely. "I'm sorry that it didn't work out between us, but you'll always have a place in my heart."

"Thank you," she said with a half smile. "I feel the same way about you. I hope everything works out for you, too.

Michelle left Bill's office. In four weeks she would be on the opposite coast, in Virginia at CIA Headquarters. She had tried to start a new life with Bill and it had ended badly. It was time to start over once again and this time, regardless of what happened with Tony, she was determined to make it work.


	8. Courtesy Call

_Thanks again for all of the reviews. Now that Bill and Michelle are in the past, let's see what happens next..._

Chapter 8: Courtesy Call

Tony stood in front of the mirror adjusting his tie. He was running late and Abby would be here any minute. Washington D.C. traffic on a Friday evening was always horrendous and with a forecast for a beautiful weekend, everyone was trying to get home from work. And Tony was no exception.

When he left for work that morning he promised himself that he would leave a few minutes early. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. He knew that he was going to be particularly busy next week and didn't want any of this week's work hanging around. Monday he would spend most of his day meeting with the new liaison from the CIA. Tony sighed. He was sorry to see the previous liaison go. Chad Peterson had been great to work with and had become a good friend, but Tony couldn't blame him for leaving. Chad had been offered the position of CIA liaison to Interpol; a job he couldn't possibly pass up. So Tony would have to break in a new guy.

Actually, he didn't know her name, but according to what Chad told him a couple of weeks ago at his going away party, the new liaison would be a woman. They had interviewed seven candidates but Chad said that they had narrowed the field down to three and all of them were women. Chad couldn't give him any names. That was confidential information. Chad was single and quite a ladies man, so Tony had joked with him about having to choose between three women.

"Let me guess," Tony teased, "you narrowed it down to a blond, a brunette and a redhead."

Chad laughed. "Actually, if you must know, two blonds and a brunette and they're all attractive. So what do you prefer?"

"Well, I'm marrying a blond, so I guess that's my preference," Tony told him with an amused smile. That couldn't be further from the truth. He may have been engaged to a blond but he had always preferred brunettes.

Tony rushed to get ready. He had showered and shaved in about ten minutes and he was pleased to see that he hadn't nicked himself with the razor. His tie now tied, he shrugged on his suit jacket and made sure that he had the ring. Jack and Audrey were getting married tonight and he was honored to be Jack's best man.

He checked his watch as he heard the knock at the door. "Coming," he called. He was always teasing Abby about being late and now it was he who was late. "Good timing, Honey. I just finished getting dre…" The sentence trailed off as he opened the door.

There was a beautiful woman standing on the other side of the door, but it wasn't Abby. "Michelle?" Tony said shocked that his ex-wife would be standing in his apartment doorway.

"Hi, Tony," she said nervously. "I'm sorry. You're obviously going out. I didn't mean to bother you. I just wanted to stop by and say 'hello'."

Tony got over his initial surprise but still wasn't sure what to say. "I'm surprised to see you," he said. What an understatement, he thought to himself.

"I'm sure you are. Listen, I don't want to make you late for wherever you're going. We can talk some other time. I just wanted you to know that I'm working out of Langley now."

"You are? When were you transferred?"

"Monday will be my first day on the job," she told him.

"Was Bill transferred, too?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head and looked down.

"Kim Bauer said that she heard you and Bill got married."

Michelle smiled in embarrassment. "We did. It just didn't work. I guess I don't have much of a track record with marriages."

They both looked up as the elevator door down the hall opened. Abby stepped out and started walking toward them. She looked beautiful in a midnight blue satin gown. It was strapless and almost skin tight showing off her hourglass figure.

"Hey, Handsome!" she said. "We're going to be late. Do you have the ring?"

"Yeah," he said as she leaned in to kiss him. "It's in my pocket." He looked at Michelle. "Jack and Audrey Raines are getting married this evening."

"That's wonderful. Give them my best," Michelle said. "They both deserve some happiness."

Abby extended her hand to Michelle. "I'm sorry, we haven't met. I'm Abby Clark." She winked at Tony. "Soon to be Abby Almeida, unless watching Jack give up his freedom tonight scares Tony away."

"Nice to meet you, Abby," Michelle said pleasantly trying hard to keep the words from sticking in her throat. She had already taken note of the ruby and diamond ring on Abby's hand. "I'm Michelle Dessler."

"Michelle?" Abby said quite obviously surprised. There were a few awkward moments of silence before Abby could think if something else to say. "Are you in the area for business or pleasure?" she asked demurely trying to determine why Tony's ex-wife was standing in his doorway.

"Actually, I was transferred to CIA Headquarters in Langley. So, I'll be living in the area. I thought it would be a courtesy to let Tony know before he found out at work on Monday."

"What's your position at Langley?" Tony asked her hoping to ease the tension a bit.

"I'm the new liaison to NSA. I'm sorry, Tony. I probably should have called you first, but I didn't know how to tell you over the phone, so I decided to stop by and tell you in person. I realize now that I should have thought this out a little better. I guess I'll see you at our meeting on Monday." She paused for a moment. "Abby, please don't worry. I promise I won't interfere." She looked at her watch as if she also had someplace to go. "I won't keep you. I don't want you to be late. Have a good time this evening," she said as she started to walk toward the elevator.

Tony watched, stunned as Michelle got into the elevator.

"Your ex-wife is the new liaison to NSA?" Abby said incredulously. "How did that happen?"

"I had nothing to do with hiring her. I'm as surprised as you are," Tony said shaking his head slowly as if that would clear it. "Come on. Let's get going. We're going to be late."

Michelle got into the elevator feeling as though she had been punched in the stomach. When she was preparing to move to the Washington area she told herself over and over that this might happen. She knew that Tony could be engaged or even married and even if he was neither, he might have no desire to reconcile with her. She had convinced herself that she could live with that possibility, but now that it happened it was harder than she had ever imagined.

Tony and Abby got into the car and headed south toward Washington. They were both quiet for a while but Abby's emotions finally bubbled to the surface.

"I don't get it Tony. What is Michelle trying to prove? Why would she apply for a job that would put her in such close contact with you?"

"Abby, I have no idea. She's highly qualified for the job. Listen, I really don't want to talk about this right now. Let's just go to the wedding and have a good time." His mind was spinning and he needed to think. At the moment he couldn't try and figure out Michelle's motives and sooth Abby's concerns at the same time.

"Tony, it's so obvious. She wants you back."

"She dumped me, Abby. She walked out on me. Why would she want me back now?"

"Because she realized that she made a mistake," she said emphatically. "She knows now that it was a mistake to leave you and she came here to get back together with you."

"This is nuts, Abby! She has no desire to reconcile with me."

"How do you know that? Why else would she have shown up at your doorstep?"

"She told you; it was a courtesy so that Monday morning wasn't the first time that I saw her."

"Tony, that's such bullshit! How can anyone as intelligent as you be so naïve? If she just wanted to give you the courtesy of letting you know ahead of time, she could have called you on the telephone."

"If she wanted me back, don't you think she would have called me at least once since I left LA?" He reached over and took Abby's hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed it. "Abby, we've spent way too much time on this subject. Stop worrying about Michelle. You look beautiful and it messes up your look when you worry," he teased.

Abby smiled back and tried to act as if he had reassured her. She settled back in silence and hoped that Tony was right.

Michelle pushed open the door to her small apartment. She rented the tiny place on a month-to-month basis assuming that either she would reconcile with Tony and move in with him or, if they didn't reconcile, she would buy a townhouse of her own. She made her way into the kitchen and poured herself a generous glass of wine. She had driven home in such a haze that it was a wonder she made it home safely. She couldn't remember the route she had driven or ever seeing the other cars on the road.

Michelle looked down as Lily, her new cat, rubbed against her legs and purred. She had adopted Lily from an animal shelter the day after she arrived in Washington. Although she would have preferred a dog, her tiny apartment and the long hours she would put in at work made having a dog impractical.

"Hi Lil," she said as she picked up the white cat and nuzzled her against her neck. She carried the cat and her glass of wine to the sofa and sat down. "Well Lily, I just made an incredible fool of myself. You're lucky that you're a cat. You can't do some of the stupid things we humans do."

Lily cocked her head to one side and looked at Michelle with wide green eyes. Michelle stoked her soft fur and began describing her encounter with Tony and Abby to the cat as if she understood. "Tony must think I've lost my mind showing up at his apartment like that. What was I thinking, Lily? And you should see his fiancé. She's gorgeous. She's sophisticated and easy-going and I could tell she had a great sense of humor. She complimented Tony perfectly. I really blew it this time. I'll never get him back now."

Tears started to form in her eyes as she took a drink of wine. "Tony looked great; he hasn't changed a bit. He's still so handsome. And those eyes! Why do his eyes make me melt? Why can't I stop loving him, Lily?" She pressed her face against Lily's fur as she cried. "Why can't I just stop loving him?"

Lily, being a typical cat, had had enough for the moment and struggled to get down. Michelle let her go and the cat jumped gracefully to the floor. She found a spot near the window where the last rays of late day sun were streaking the carpet. She sat on the floor fastidiously grooming; washing the fur that Michelle's tears had dampened. She kept her eye on Michelle who was now lying on the sofa sobbing quietly. The cat seemed to sense that her new owner needed her and she made her way back to the sofa and jumped up next to Michelle.

Michelle smiled as she petted Lily. "Let's look at the bright side. We can start looking for a house where you'll have plenty of room to play." It was finally sinking in. Tony wasn't hers any more. She had made that choice when she left him. She would now have to work with him regularly but not be able to touch him and kiss him. He wouldn't wrap his arms around her and make her feel like she was the only person in the world who mattered. Michelle suddenly felt cold and empty inside; more so than at any time since the day that Tony was arrested.

Jack and Audrey's wedding reception was in full swing at an elegant restaurant in Georgetown. They had exchanged vows in a brief ceremony at a nearby church and then the small wedding party and about thirty guests made the short trip to the restaurant. Dinner was over and the dishes cleared away, but the wedding cake hadn't been cut yet. The guests mingled with each other and wandered to and from the bar. Tony stood at the bar waiting behind a couple of other guests. Jack spotted him and moved toward him. He had noticed that Tony seemed more serious than usual. He had expected his best man to make some kind of sincere but humorous toast before dinner. Instead, the toast was beautiful but so serious as to be out of character for Tony.

"Everything okay?" Jack asked quietly.

"Yeah, fine. Why?" Tony replied not even realizing that he wasn't himself.

"You're kind of quiet, that's all. I wanted to make sure everything was okay."

Tony stepped up and gave the bartender his order. "Tonic water with a twist of lime and a sour apple martini, please. Jack, did you need anything?"

Jack held up his glass slightly to show that it was nearly full. "No, I'm fine," he said.

The two watched in silence as the bartender got Tony's order together. As they stepped away from the bar Tony walked toward a secluded corner. Jack followed him.

"So, tell me what's going on," Jack said.

"You'll never guess who showed up at my apartment before the wedding," Tony paused a moment to give Jack a chance to guess. Jack shrugged and shook his head so Tony continued. "Michelle."

"Michelle? Your Michelle?"

"She's not _my_ Michelle, Jack. She left me and filed for divorce, remember?"

"What was she doing at your apartment?"

Tony went on to tell Jack about Michelle's new position at Langley and Abby's reaction to it. "I wish I knew what Michelle was thinking. I know her well enough to know that she took this position for a reason. Is she just trying to make me miserable? Is she trying to keep tabs on me for some reason? I don't get it Jack."

"I don't know, Tony. You may be reading more into this than there is. This position can be used as a stepping stone to higher positions within the Agency. Look at Chad Peterson. He's liaison to Interpol now. I'll bet he's running one of the CIA offices in Europe within the next couple of years. I could see Michelle being interested in something like that. She was Deputy Director at Division for a couple of years. I've thought for the last year or two that they were grooming her for higher management."

Tony sighed, "Maybe you're right." He turned and faced the window. "I just can't believe that there weren't any other positions that she could have taken besides this one. I thought I was finally over her and there she is again."

"There you are. I was looking all over for you," Audrey said as she came over to them. "They want us to cut the cake, Jack."

"Okay, I'm coming," Jack told her with a smile. "You going to be okay, Tony?"

Tony nodded and winked at Audrey. "I just need some cake. That's my favorite part of a wedding."

Jack and Audrey stepped away leaving Tony where he and Jack had been standing. "You guys looked so serious. What were you talking about?"

"Nothing really. I'll tell you later."

"Not a chance," Audrey said seductively, "I've got plans for later."

The reception ended around 11 o'clock and Tony and Abby headed home. Tony escorted Abby into her apartment which was just two floors below his own.

"I could use a cup of coffee," Audrey said. "How about you?"

What Tony really wanted was to go upstairs to his own place and go to bed. He knew that he wouldn't sleep, but he wanted to think over the day and try to make some sense of Michelle's sudden reappearance in his life. On the other hand, he knew that Abby was equally concerned about his ex-wife and he really should stay close for a while to reassure her.

"Sure," he told her. "Do you have any whipped cream? I'll make that Mexican coffee that you like with the cinnamon and chocolate."

"Oooh, I'd love that but I don't have any whipped cream or chocolate syrup."

"I have some at my place. You start the coffee and I'll go get it."

"Deal," she said as she gave him a light kiss. "Don't be too long."

Tony took the stairs up to his apartment. He took off his tie and jacket and threw them over a kitchen chair. Then he took out his cell phone which he had turned off for the wedding. He turned it back on and saw that he had a message. It was probably from his brother. Luis usually went to see the Cubs every Friday evening when they were playing at Wrigley Field in Chicago. He always called Tony from the ballpark to rub it in. Tony punched in his access code to play the message.

"Hi Tony," the soft voice took him by surprise. "Look, I'm sorry about showing up at your place the way I did. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time but obviously, I was wrong. I'll never do that again, I promise. Please apologize to Abby for me. I want you both to know that, as I said earlier, I have no intention of interfering with your relationship. I'm happy to see that you've found someone and that you're happy. I know I caused you a lot of unhappiness and I glad that you've been able to move on. You and I need to have a professional relationship, Tony and I hope we're both adult enough to do that. I'll see you on Monday. Good night."

Tony listened to the message again. He loved hearing her voice. It was soft and sexy and reminded him how he used to call her station at CTU just to say "hi" and see how her day was going. How could he ever have a "professional relationship" with her when all he wanted was to lock his arms around her and kiss her? From the moment he saw her at the door he wanted to pick her up and carry her to his bed and make love to her. He ached inside and he knew that the only person who could ever make that ache go away was Michelle.

Tony's phone rang and he answered it hoping that it might be Michelle. "Hey, what's taking so long?" Abby asked.

"I decided to change clothes," he lied. "I'll be down in a minute."

"Oh well if you're changing, I'll put on something more comfortable, too. Don't be too long. The coffee's almost done."

He hung up hoping that Abby wasn't planning to put on anything too "comfortable". He really wasn't in the mood for sex. Actually, to be correct about it, he wasn't in the mood for sex with Abby.

Tony returned to Abby's apartment with the whipped cream and chocolate syrup. He put on a pair of sweat pants and a tee shirt hoping that Abby wouldn't find the combination particularly sexy. She, on the other hand, put on a short, lacy piece of lingerie covered by a matching robe. The combination showed off her long, shapely legs and her cleavage. It usually sent Tony off the deep end. If he recalled correctly, the last time she wore it, they didn't even make it to the bedroom before Tony stripped it off of her and they made love.

"I'm more comfortable now. How about you?" Abby asked seductively.

Tony kissed her gently without saying anything. "I'll make the coffee."

They sat on the sofa in the living room and drank coffee. Neither said much and Abby noticed immediately that, although Tony had his arm around her, he wasn't himself. She was wearing his favorite lingerie and he had barely touched her. She feared that this had something to do with Michelle and she needed to take his mind off of that subject.

Abby set down her coffee and took Tony's away from him. Then she climbed on him straddling his lap. "I've wanted to do this all evening," she said in a sexy voice, her mouth just millimeters from his. She pressed her open mouth against Tony's and slipped her tongue between his lips. He put his arms around her and returned her kiss. Abby groaned quietly into his mouth and moved her body against his. In the process she made sure that her low cut negligee was pushed off to one side "accidentally" exposing one of her breasts. She pushed herself into a kneeling position so that the bare breast was in front of Tony's face. She brushed it against his lips and he kissed it tenderly and sucked lightly on her nipple. Abby groaned louder this time. She lowered herself back into his lap and undulated her hips against him. He was just barely becoming aroused. She had made love with Tony enough times to know that he should be hard by now. He should be tearing off her clothes or pushing them out of the way.

"What's the matter?" she asked as she pressed her pelvis to his. "Don't I excite you any more?"

"Of course you excite me," he said defensively. "I'm just tired. It's been a long day. Why don't we just go to sleep and save this for tomorrow night?"

"I'm not going to be here tomorrow night. Remember? I'm leaving tomorrow morning for New York with Amanda and Janie. I won't be back until late Sunday night. Tony, why don't you want to make love to me?"

"I told you, Abby, I'm tired."

"That's never stopped you before. This is about Michelle, isn't it?" Abby adjusted the nightgown to cover her breast and got up off of his lap.

Tony followed her and pulled her into his arms. "This has nothing to do with Michelle, Honey. Let's go to bed. Maybe I'm not so tired after all," he said as he kissed her. He let his hands drift slowly up her body until they reached her breasts. He wished it were Michelle's body and that he was fondling her breasts. The thought was enough to arouse him. He and Abby worked their way to her bedroom where they made love. It was nice but there was something different about it tonight. There were moments when Tony was very attentive and then others when he seemed to be somewhere else. Abby sighed softly as she drifted off to sleep. She hoped that she was imagining things. Tony had only seen Michelle for few minutes and already Abby feared that she was coming between them.

Tony lay wide awake next to Abby. What he had just done was wrong and he knew it. He had sex with Abby while fantasizing about his ex-wife. In his mind it was Michelle he was kissing and caressing. He could only stay excited when he was thinking about Michelle. As soon as he tried to focus on Abby, he lost interest. He had to stop this. He had asked Abby to spend the rest of her life with him. They were talking about a wedding date early next spring and had decided to start looking for a house in the next couple of weeks. He was committed to Abby and he couldn't continue to fantasize about someone else every time they were in bed together. He had to get over Michelle. He just had to.


	9. Professional and Personal

_You guys are the best readers in fandom! I still can't get over how many reviews I've gotten on this story. Thanks again and please keep it up! I love reviews._

Chapter 9: Professional and Personal

The weekend was torture for Tony. All he could think of was his meeting with Michelle on Monday and how he was going to handle it. What was he supposed to say to her? With Abby in New York with her friends he had little to distract him. He called Chad Peterson who would be bringing Michelle to the meeting on Monday.

"Did you know that you were hiring my ex-wife as your replacement?" Tony asked him angrily.

"Of course, Tony. Her personnel file details her kidnapping and your actions. Everyone on the search committee knew the story," Chad told him.

"Then what the hell were you thinking? Why would you have offered her the job?"

"Tony, she was the most qualified candidate. I'm sorry. Believe me, we didn't enter into this decision lightly. The search committee considered all of the candidates and their qualifications. When we decided that Michelle was clearly the best candidate, we discussed the ramifications of hiring your ex-wife into the position. Our final decision was that she was the most qualified candidate and we couldn't let your personal history play any part in the selection process."

"Why didn't you warn me?"

"I wanted to. I discussed it with Michelle when she called us to accept the position. She told me that she wanted to tell you herself. It never occurred to me that she would just drop by your place to chat. I thought that she'd call you or email you. I'll be honest, Tony. When I spoke with Michelle I didn't get the impression that your divorce was quite this acrimonious. She made it sound like you parted on pretty friendly terms."

"Hardly! I went to prison for saving her life and when I got a pardon and came home she decided to leave me." Tony knew he was leaving out important details like the fact that he had been drinking heavily and refused to get a job, but at the moment he didn't care. "How could you believe that we parted on good terms?"

"Look Tony, I'm sorry. What's done is done. Michelle is the new special liaison to the NSA. You two are going to have to find a way to work together."

The two friends said a rather chilly goodbye and disconnected. Tony wasn't quite sure what to do next. He tried to stay busy by cleaning his apartment and doing laundry. When he finished that around 3 o'clock he started looking for something else to do. He considered calling Michelle to clear the air before their meeting on Monday but after starting to dial her number twice, he put down the phone and walked away from it. He had no idea what he was going to say when she answered the phone or why he was even calling, so he chose not to call her. He was grateful when some friends from work called and invited him to a Baltimore Orioles baseball game. He wasn't a fan of either team that was playing, but at least it got him out of his apartment and gave him something else to think about.

The weekend was torture for Michelle, too. She chided herself for being so naïve as to believe that she could simply show up at Tony's door and he would take her back. On top of that, she was embarrassed that she had shown up at such an awkward time. If she wanted to talk to Tony, she should have called first and set up a convenient time. She had put him in a bad position as well and wondered how his fiancé felt about his ex-wife showing up unannounced.

Monday finally arrived. Tony got to work around 7:30. His meeting with Chad and Michelle was scheduled for 10:30 and he found himself anxiously checking his watch every few minutes. Chad and Michelle arrived on time and were directed into Tony's office by his secretary, Becky.

The three sat at a table in Tony's office and began reviewing the week's intelligence reports that were to be shared between the agencies. Chad and Tony normally met for about three hours every Monday afternoon and then had a telephone conference on Thursday morning. They spoke at other times during the week if necessary. Tony and Michelle agreed that they would continue that practice. Today's meeting, however would probably take most of the day. There was a lot of information that Tony and Chad had to bring Michelle up to speed on.

The tenor or the meeting was cordial and business-like. They had a lot of ground to cover and Tony and Michelle didn't have a lot of time to think about anything outside of the information they were reviewing. With so much material to review, they decided to work through lunch. Becky called in a lunch order for them to a local deli and they ate while they worked. It was almost five o'clock when they finally finished and they said their goodbyes. Chad and Tony shook hands, while Tony and Michelle merely nodded at each other.

Once Chad and Michelle were out of his office, Tony practically collapsed in his chair. The day had gone better than he expected but had been emotionally draining nonetheless. Sitting next to Michelle, so close that their legs had brushed on more than one occasion, had been harder than Tony ever imagined. It took all of his self control to remain focused and keep thinking about work.

Michelle was wearing her hair curly again. He loved her curls. He wanted to bury his face in those curls, run his hands through them so that the ringlets twisted around his fingers. Her soft hand rested on the table near his. He couldn't help but remember putting a wedding ring on that same hand. His hands shook as he did it, but he knew then that she was the only woman he ever wanted. He wanted to go to sleep with her in his arms every night and wake to her beautiful face every morning. How could he have ever let it go so wrong? He knew that, although Michelle left him, the blame for their failed marriage rested equally on both of their shoulders.

As he sat at his desk, he imaged how good it would feel to make love to her again. As difficult as it was to stay professional today, it would be worse next week when Chad wouldn't be there. Michelle would be alone with him behind the closed door of his office and he wasn't sure that he trusted himself.

The phone rang and brought Tony back to reality. The caller ID told him that it was Abby. Despite Tony's reassurances, she was anxious about his first meeting with Michelle. Tony sighed. He didn't feel like talking to Abby right now. Ever since Michelle reappeared in his life just three days earlier his stomach had been tied in a knot. He loved her and he couldn't deny it but he and Abby were engaged. He knew that Abby loved him; there was no doubt in his mind about that. And he cared deeply for her, he truly did, but he could never love her the way he loved Michelle. Maybe he should break off his engagement now and try to reconcile with Michelle. Was Michelle actually interested in him? He wasn't sure. He didn't know if Michelle wanted him back and if he broke off his engagement and Michelle didn't want him back, then he had nothing. In that case, was it wrong to continue his relationship with Abby knowing that she would never be his true love? He didn't have answers to any of those questions and it was tearing him apart.

"Hey," he answered the phone softly.

"Hi," Abby answered back. "Is your meeting over?"

"Yeah, they just left."

"How did it go?"

"It was okay. We were civil. I wish you would stop worrying, Abby. Michelle and I are both professionals. We do our jobs and that's it. Even when Michelle and I were married, nothing personal went on at work. The line was drawn at the front door of the office."

Abby said that she understood but, in fact, she didn't. She had seen the look on Tony's face when he was talking to Michelle. It was a look of pure love that she had never seen directed at her. She had always feared that Tony still loved his ex-wife, but he treated her so well and made her so happy, that she wasn't particularly concerned about it until now. Now it scared her. Now she was afraid that she was losing him.

Tony and Michelle soon settled into their weekly meetings and conference calls. The first couple were tense, but they started to lighten up after just a few weeks. Although they weren't exactly friendly, they could at least ask each other how their weekend was. Answers to personal questions like that were usually only a few words or maybe a sentence long.

Tony's relationship with Abby seemed to stabilize but Abby could feel an overall change in it. She couldn't quite explain it, but when they were together, a little part of Tony always seemed to be elsewhere. Any time she asked Tony about it he became defensive and denied it.

The weeks passed and Michelle had now been in her new position for about eight weeks. She and Tony were just finishing up their weekly meeting. She said goodbye to him and stepped out of his office.

"Good night, Becky," she said as she passed Tony's secretary who was getting ready to leave.

"Good night, Ms. Dessler," Becky replied.

"See you next week."

"Oh, Ms. Dessler, which direction are you going when you leave?" Becky asked her.

"I'm going south, back toward Washington. Why?"

"There was an accident on southbound route 32. It's backed up for almost five miles. All of the southbound routes are swamped with people trying to avoid route 32."

"Damn," Michelle said. "Somehow sitting in traffic for the next couple of hours doesn't sound like fun."

By now Tony had heard the conversation and walked out of his office. "Sounds like you're lucky that you live north of here, Becky," Tony commented.

Becky smiled as she picked up her purse. "Yeah, at least I can get home. You're probably better off staying for a while and getting some work done, Mr. Almeida."

"That's what I'm going to do," Tony told her. "Michelle, if you want to stay, you're welcome to. We have our quarterly report due next month. Chad and I had a system for putting that report together but since this is your first one, we could use the time to work on it."

"That sounds reasonable. It's better than sitting in traffic," Michelle agreed. She walked back into Tony's office and set her laptop on the table.

After spending an hour and a half working on the report, Tony stood up to stretch. He checked a traffic report on the internet.

"Traffic is still backed up for miles. We're not going to get out of here for a while," Tony told Michelle. "I need a break from this report. Are you hungry?"

"I didn't have time for lunch. I'm starved."

"Would you like to go get some dinner? There's a pretty good little Italian place a couple of miles from here. We should be able to take back roads and avoid the traffic."

"That sounds like a good idea," Michelle said. She stood and picked up her purse.

Tony locked his office door behind him and the two of them made their way to Tony's car. Tony was right; he was able to avoid most of the major roads and they made it to the restaurant in about 20 minutes. Soon they were seated and looking at menus.

"The eggplant parmesan and the linguini with red clam sauce are both first rate," Tony told her.

A young waitress worked her way over to them. "Can I get you something from the bar?" she asked after greeting them.

"Are you having a drink?" Michelle asked Tony.

He looked at her silently for a second. "I don't drink any more, Michelle."

She looked up having momentarily forgotten that Tony's drinking was the main reason they broke up in the first place. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize that you had completely stopped drinking."

"I couldn't seem to do it in moderation so I decided I shouldn't do it at all. But don't let me stop you, feel free to have a drink," Tony said and then asked the waitress for an iced tea.

"Are you sure it won't bother you if I have a glass of wine?"

"No, Abby drinks and it doesn't bother me."

Michelle ordered a glass of wine and the waitress walked back toward the bar. There was an awkward silence between them for a few moments and they both focused on the menu. Soon the waitress was back with their drinks and they each placed a dinner order. Michelle sipped at her wine and began to feel herself relax. Their dinners arrived and soon their conversation had returned to normal.

"Have you seen Jack lately? How are he and Audrey doing?" Michelle asked between bites.

"I played tennis with Jack on Saturday. They're doing great. Audrey's pregnant."

"Really? I can't see Jack becoming a father again," Michelle said with a warm smile. She looked up and caught the eye of their waitress and indicated that she wanted another glass of wine.

"He's thrilled. Before they were married he was talking about having a family. I've never seen him this happy before."

There was a pause in the conversation as the waitress set down Michelle's wine. "So," Michelle said as she took the first sip from the glass. "When are you and Abby getting married?"

Tony was surprised by the question. They had both consciously avoided any personal questions. "We don't have a date yet. For a while we were talking about next spring, but we haven't really talked about specific dates recently."

"How long have you been engaged?"

"Since April," he told her. He knew what she was thinking. Most couple that had been engaged that long had already set a wedding date.

"Are you living together?" She was feeling much bolder now.

Tony was amused as he realized that it was the alcohol talking. "No, we have our own apartments but we're looking for a house."

"Oh, what area are you looking in?"

"I'd like to live in this area, but Abby wants to be closer to DC. She likes city life."

"City life is fun, but it's tough to raise kids in a city. I would think this would be a nice area to raise a family."

"I'm not sure that a family is really in our plans," Tony told her.

"Really? You always wanted kids when we were together."

"I don't know. It doesn't seem like a priority any more. Abby is pretty career minded. I'd still like to have kids, but I won't press the issue and right now she's not interested. Maybe we'll consider it someday, but not right now." Tony started to realize how all of this sounded. They had been engaged for months and didn't have a wedding date, couldn't decide where to live and couldn't agree on whether or not to have children. It didn't sound like much of a relationship.

Michelle was out of questions and looked down with feigned interest in twisting linguini perfectly around her fork. Tony took advantage of her silence. Two could play at this game.

"Look Michelle, I don't want to get too personal, but what happened between you and Bill?"

Michelle smiled a mirthless, almost embarrassed, smile. "It's a long and ugly story, Tony. One you probably don't want to hear." She looked back at her linguini.

Tony persisted. "Did you know that Bill called me one night? He was looking for you. I guess you two had an argument and you walked out. He got worried and, for some reason, thought you might have contacted me."

"You're kidding," she said looking up in disbelief. "He actually called you? What time was it? Why did he think I would contact you?"

"It was around midnight here. I don't know why he thought you'd call me. And he didn't say what happened but you two must have had one hell of a fight. I figured that you probably went down to that rocky stretch of beach we used to like but I didn't tell him. I felt that if you wanted to be left alone for a while, it wasn't my place to tell him where I thought you were."

"I guess I'm pretty transparent," Michelle said with a quiet chuckle.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, you figured out where I was didn't you. Not only that, Bill was right in thinking that I might call you," she sighed. "I was sitting on the beach and I needed somebody to talk to. Twice I almost called you but I ended up turning my phone off before I made the call."

"Of all the people you could talk to, why would you have called me?"

"I don't know. I thought you would listen to me and at the moment that was all that I wanted. I didn't want anyone to tell me what to do or to be judgmental."

"I wish you would have called me," Tony said softly. "I would have been happy to listen. What time did you finally go home?"

"I got in around 4 a.m. Bill was frantic," she smiled at the memory. "It was kind of funny watching him try and apologize."

"If you were mad enough to stay out until 4 in the morning, he probably needed to apologize."

"We both made mistakes. I wanted someone to care for me and someone to come home to but I didn't want to make a commitment and that was wrong. He wanted a wife and a family and he was willing to do just about anything to get that."

"What finally convinced you to marry him?"

"I was pregnant," she said quietly as she looked down at her plate. "I wanted the baby to be part of a family. I didn't want to be a single mother."

Tony couldn't conceal the look of surprise on his face. "I had no idea."

"Oh, it was a surprise to me, too. The problem was, that it wasn't a surprise to Bill."

"I don't understand," Tony admitted.

"This is so embarrassing," Michelle said shaking her head and looking away. She took a moment and collected herself. She had decided to tell Tony the whole story. She had never done this before. No one other than she and Bill knew what had really happened. She hadn't even told her parents. It was easier to let them think the pregnancy was accidental. They didn't like Bill all that well to begin with and telling them the truth seemed to be pointless. "Bill basically planned the pregnancy without my knowledge. He figured out when I was most likely to get pregnant. Then he planned a romantic weekend in the Napa Valley for that time frame. We went on a wine tasting tour. The only problem was that I was the one who did most of the wine tasting. I spent the whole weekend too drunk to realize that we weren't using any birth control. A few weeks later when I realized that I was pregnant, I was shocked. When I told Bill, he wasn't even a little bit surprised. That was when I realized that he planned it.

"I got so angry that I walked out. I eventually ended up at the beach. After sitting there watching the ocean for about eight hours, I decided that I was going to have the baby and that Bill and I should get married." Michelle looked away tears were forming in her eyes. The rest of the story was a little harder for her to talk about. "About four months later, I was at a meeting at CTU and I started to have really bad abdominal pain. I was transferred to Good Samaritan and they told me that I had a miscarriage. Without a baby, Bill and I didn't have anything to hold our marriage together. So we split up."

Tony reached across the table, covered her hand with his and squeezed gently. "I'm so sorry, Michelle," he whispered. "I'm so sorry."

Michelle said nothing and stared deeply into his eyes. The moment was broken as Tony's phone rang. "I'm sorry," he said as he reached for the phone. "Hello."

"Tony! Thank God you're alright," Abby exclaimed. "Where are you? I heard there was an accident on route 32 and you didn't come home and you didn't call. I was worried about you."

"I'm sorry, Abby. I decided to stay at the office to get some work done rather than sit in traffic. I should have called you."

"You're not at the office, Tony. I called there and got your voice mail. Where are you?"

"We worked until about 7:30 and then decided to get something to eat at the Italian place near work. We're just finishing up," Tony told her.

"Who is 'we'? Who are you with?"

"Michelle."

Abby was silent for a long moment. "I was practically sick worrying about you and you're having dinner with your ex-wife. Oh, that's beautiful, Tony!" Abby made no attempt to disguise the anger in her voice.

"Abby, we were working and we got hungry. Don't make this sound like it was a date." Tony was trying to defend himself but at the same time felt a little guilty.

"Call it what you like, Tony. I guess we'll talk later." Abby didn't wait for Tony to say goodbye before she hung up.

Tony put his phone away while he avoided Michelle's gaze. "I'm sorry that I got you in trouble with Abby," she said sincerely.

"She's not my mother, Michelle. I'm not in trouble. We didn't do anything wrong. I'll talk to her when I get home. I'm sure she'll be fine." Tony wished that he actually believed that.

Tony and Michelle left the restaurant and headed back to NSA. Tony dropped Michelle off near her car and they said their goodbyes. They both headed home confused and unsure of themselves. Tony knew Abby was angry and didn't know what he was going to say to her. Nor did he know what the future of their relationship was. He was finally willing to admit that it had changed over the last few months. Abby had been trying to tell him that, but he refused to listen. Before Michelle came back into his life, he was sure that he wanted to spend his life with Abby. Now he wasn't so sure.

Michelle drove home with thought wildly spinning in her head. Dinner with Tony had been almost magical for her. When he touched her hand she could feel a jolt of excitement rush through her. His phone ringing brought home the reality that he belonged to someone else now. She sighed. When she took the job at CIA Headquarters, she never meant for things to get this complicated.


	10. Endings and Beginnings

_Once again, thanks for all of the reviews. I still can't get over how many reviews I have gotten on this story. You guys are the best!_

Chapter 10: Endings and Beginnings

Tony and Michelle met a week later for their regular Monday meeting. Neither of them mentioned their dinner conversation. Michelle wanted to ask Tony if things had settled down between he and Abby, but decided that she should stay out of it. The meeting itself was more tedious than usual. Not only did they have to review the week's intelligence reports, but they also had to work on their quarterly report which was due in three weeks. They were making little progress on it. It was already 6:30 and there was no end in sight. Tony stood and walked around his office to stretch. He opened the door to ask Becky to get some coffee before he remembered that she had gone home and hour and a half ago along with everyone else in the nearby offices.

"Tony, this is pointless," Michelle sighed. "We're not getting anywhere."

"Sometimes when Chad and I had trouble with this report we got together on a Saturday morning at my place and worked all day. After a couple of pots of coffee and a pizza or some subs, we usually got it finished. I hate to ruin a weekend for you, but maybe we should try that."

"I'm game. I'll do anything so that I don't have to work on it anymore tonight. Let me look my calendar." She pulled up her schedule on her laptop while Tony did the same. "I know next weekend is a holiday weekend, but I'm not busy on Saturday. Will that work for you?"

"No," Tony said shaking his head. "Abby and I are going out to Chicago to spend the holiday with my parents."

"That's nice. How are your parents doing?"

"They're doing well. I think my dad is finally going to retire next year."

"That's great. I'd have you tell them that I said 'hello', but I'm sure they don't really want to hear from me."

"They'd love to hear from you, Michelle. They always liked you and they never blamed you for our break up."

"I'm sure they like Abby just as well."

"Actually, they don't. They're nice to her, but she doesn't have as good a relationship with them as you did." Tony turned his attention back to his calendar. "So that weekend is out. Can you do it this Saturday?"

"No, I'm busy," she answered.

Tony smiled. "Got a hot date?" he asked, meaning only to tease her.

Michelle's eyes flashed with anger. "As a matter of fact, I do have a date!" Michelle said sharply. She turned away from him so he couldn't see the tears forming in her eyes. "I'm allowed to date, Tony. You're engaged; I'm certainly allowed to go out on a date now and then."

"Whoa! Whoa! Time out!" Tony exclaimed as he made a time out sign with his hands. "I was joking, Michelle. Of course you're allowed to date. I didn't mean anything by that."

Michelle barely heard him. She turned back toward him and again railed against him. "Do you know how hard it is for me to sit here with you week after week knowing that you love someone else? Do you know how much it hurts when I think about the fact that you go home and make love to her the way we used to? Do you have any idea how painful all of that is?" She snapped her laptop closed and grabbed her purse. She needed to get away from him.

Tony was stunned by her tirade. They desperately needed to talk, but he had to calm her down. He grabbed her arm to stop her from leaving. "Michelle," he started.

"Don't touch me!" she shouted and tried to jerk away from him.

"No!" Tony said emphatically. "What are you trying to say to me, Michelle?"

"Let go of me!" she cried. Tears now streaked her face as she struggled to get away from him.

He held both of her upper arms and pushed her gently but firmly against the wall. "No, not until you tell me what you are trying to say."

"I have nothing to say to you," she sobbed. Tony was standing very close now. Their bodies were touching and Michelle could feel the warmth radiating from him.

"Yes, you do. I think you're trying to tell me that you still love me. Is that what you're saying, Michelle? Do you still love me?"

"It doesn't matter! Let me go. I need to leave."

"Yes, it does matter. Look at me, Michelle. Can you look me in the eye and tell me that you don't love me?"

Michelle looked away biting her lower lip to keep it from quivering. She finally met his intense gaze and spoke softly, almost inaudibly. "I love you, Tony. Oh God! I never stopped loving you. I love you so much." She collapsed against him and he gathered her in his arms.

"Oh Baby, I love you, too," he whispered as his voice cracked with emotion.

He lifted her chin with his forefinger and pressed his lips to hers. They kissed urgently; their tongues wrestling. Tony could taste Michelle's tears. He used his thumbs to tenderly wipe them away. She caressed his face lightly then put her hands behind his head to pull him in closer. It felt so good to kiss her. He didn't want it to end. He pressed his body hard against hers and she moaned quietly. Tony slipped his hands under the jacket of Michelle's suit and allowed them to slide up the silky blouse she was wearing until he reached her breasts. He fondled them tenderly through her clothes and she groaned louder this time. He was hard and she could feel it. She moved her leg so that her thigh rubbed against him. This time it was his turn to groan. Tony found the top button on Michelle's blouse and started opening it. He wanted to take her right there. He imagined himself sweeping everything off of his desk and laying her down on it. She would wrap her legs around him and they would make love. God! How he wanted to make love to her! Reality quickly overcame him and he pulled away from her.

"I'm…I'm sorry. Michelle I shouldn't have done that," Tony said as he walked toward his desk. Michelle's eyes dropped to the telltale bulge in his pants and he turned away self consciously.

"You just told me that you love me. Isn't that what you said?"

"I do love you, Michelle. I love you with all of my heart, but I'm engaged to someone else and this isn't fair to her. I may not love her the way I love you, but I do respect her and I won't cheat on her."

"So…so, what does this mean?"

"It means that I need to talk to Abby," he sighed. "I need to break off our engagement."

"Tony, I'm sorry. I never meant to complicate your life. I took the job at Langley because I just couldn't be away from you any longer. I hoped when I took the job that you wouldn't be involved with anyone. I never meant to hurt anyone. When I found out that you were engaged, I thought I could handle it. I thought I could just do my job and go home at night, but I couldn't."

"I know how you feel. Since you came to my apartment that day, you're all I could think about. It's affected my relationship with Abby and we both knew it. I don't think this is going to come as a surprise to her."

"Will you talk to her tonight?"

"No, she's teaching a class to FBI recruits at Quantico. I won't do this over the phone. She'll be home on Saturday. I'll talk to her then."

Michelle nodded; there was nothing more to say. She had finally declared her love for Tony and was happy that she had done so, but she regretted that she had put him in a terrible position. Even if he didn't love Abby, Tony was so sensitive that it would be difficult for him to break off his engagement.

Tony spent the rest of the week rehearsing what he would say to Abby when she got home on Saturday. They spoke on the phone every evening while she was gone. The conversations were short. They each asked about the other's day and talked about inconsequential things. Tony knew that he was quieter than usual. If Abby noticed or suspected anything, she didn't say it. By Saturday morning he still didn't have any idea what he was going to say to her. She would be home around noon and Tony was making lunch for them.

Tony kept himself busy in the kitchen most of the morning. He could feel his stomach churning as noon approached. Abby's knock on the door made him break out in a sweat.

"Hi Sweetheart," she said as he opened the door. She threw her arms around his neck and kissed him.

Tony returned the hug and kissed her lightly then stepped away.

Abby stood in the doorway, her brow furrowed in confusion. "I guess you didn't miss me," she said pointedly.

Tony looked at her. He had difficulty meeting her eyes. "Of course I missed you. I just don't want the eggs to burn," he said as he turned toward the kitchen. Abby could see that the table was set. What she didn't know was that Tony had been nervously setting the table at 7 o'clock that morning. "Sit down. I'll bring the food out."

Tony came out of the kitchen with two steaming plates piled high with a western omelet and home fries. He stepped back into the kitchen and returned with toasted English muffins and a carafe filled with coffee. Bowls of fruit sat at each of their places.

"Looks good," Abby commented. "You shouldn't have gone to so much trouble."

"It wasn't any trouble," Tony said quietly. There was a lull in the conversation while they both started eating. Tony couldn't stand the silence any more. "How was Quantico?"

"It was okay. We talked about it on the phone. There's nothing else worth mentioning."

They both fell silent again. This time it was Abby who broke the silence. "So," she said, "that movie you wanted to see opens this weekend. Do you want to go tonight or do you just want to stay in and have a quiet evening?"

"I hadn't thought about it," Tony said trying to be noncommittal. He really didn't know how to tell her what he had to say.

Abby washed some eggs down with orange juice. "Everything is delicious," she told him.

"Thanks," he replied without looking up. Abby noticed that he was doing a lot more moving the food around on the plate than eating it.

"This isn't working anymore, is it, Tony?" Abby asked him.

"What isn't working?" he asked taken by surprise by her question.

"Us. Our relationship. It used to be wonderful, but it's not any more. We can't even have a comfortable conversation any more and our love life is virtually nonexistent."

Tony got up from the table and walked over to her. He took her hand in his. "Abby, I feel like this is all my fault. I never meant to hurt you. I care for you very much."

"You care for me, but you don't love me, is that right?"

Tony closed his eyes and nodded silently. "I'm so sorry," he whispered.

"It's okay," Abby said emotion filling her voice as she turned and walked away. "I guess I knew this was coming. I knew it from the day Michelle came back into your life. You never stopped loving her and as long as she was 3000 miles away, that was alright, but once you had to see her on a regular basis, I knew I was going to lose you."

"I thought I had her out of my system, Abby. I swear I did. I never would have asked you to marry me if I thought that I loved her as much as I do."

"And she feels that same way?" she asked as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"It doesn't matter how she feels. It's wrong for me to marry you knowing that I love someone else more than I love you. You deserve someone who loves you more than anyone else in the world. You shouldn't be playing a close second to anyone. What I did to you was wrong and I can't begin to tell you how sorry I am."

Abby took the diamond and ruby ring Tony had given her from her finger and handed it back to him. "Here, this is yours," she said quietly.

"No," he replied shaking his head, "it was my gift to you."

Abby nodded and slipped the ring into her pocket. "I guess I should go now."

Tony nodded not knowing what else to say. Abby picked up her purse and he walked her to the door. "Abby, you are a wonderful person and, more than anything, I want you to be happy."

Abby tried to smile at him, but couldn't. She opened the door and walked slowly away and out of his life as Tony watched. Once she had turned the corner and was out of his sight, Tony closed the door and leaned heavily against it. He felt terrible about what he had just done. He remembered how badly he felt when he left Jen but this was much worse. He had to leave her to save himself. He didn't love her and had never professed to loving her. He also knew that Jen could easily pick up and move on. And he was right. He still heard from her occasionally and he was happy when she told him that she was taking his advice. She was taking courses at community college and was dating a guy she met there. This was very different. He was leaving Abby for another woman; a woman he had loved for years. After repeatedly telling Abby that he loved her, now he had broken her heart. Tony knew in the long run that what he did was right but at the moment it was painful. He sighed and walked back to the kitchen to clean up hoping that would take his mind off of Abby.

Once he finished cleaning up, Tony looked for something else to do. He tried reading, but found that he couldn't concentrate, so he ended up channel surfing hoping to find a sporting event that interested him. He kept looking at the clock. He wanted to call Michelle, but knew that she had a date. At 7 o'clock, he decided to take a drive hoping that the cool evening air would clear his head.

Tony got into his SUV and drove off. After passing a couple of restaurants, he decided that he was hungry. He stopped at the next fast food place and went in to have some dinner. That only wasted about 20 minutes and soon he was back on the road again. It wasn't long before he found himself on the way to Michelle's apartment. He pulled into the parking lot and parked his car at the far end under a tree where he was unlikely to be noticed. Michelle's car was parked directly in front of her building. Maybe she was home. Maybe she hadn't gone out on that date that she talked about. The only time he had talked to her since their meeting last Monday was during their Thursday conference call. That call had been strictly business; neither of them mentioned what happened in his office.

Tony sat in his car and counted the windows trying to figure out which apartment belonged to Michelle. Depending on how they were numbered, he had it narrowed down to two and both of those were dark. So either Michelle was still out or she and her date didn't need to have any lights on in the apartment. Tony cringed at that thought. He also thought it very unlikely. She had declared her love for him a few days ago and he didn't think she would have more than a friendly date tonight.

Tony wasn't sure what to do next. It was 9:30. He knew that he should go home and call Michelle in the morning, but he didn't think he could live another night without her. His love for her was so all consuming that he wanted to be with her, to touch her, to kiss her, as soon as he could. He finally decided to wait. It was stupid and he knew it. She might not be home for hours. It also seemed a little creepy, almost like he was stalking her, but at the moment he could justify it by telling himself that she loved him as much as he loved her and she wanted to be with him, too.

His patience was rewarded less than an hour later. It was about 10:20 when a car pulled into the lot and parked in front of Michelle's building. A man got out of the driver's seat and walked around to help someone out of the passenger seat. Even in the low lighting of the parking lot, Tony knew it was Michelle. He knew by the way she carried herself and how her hair bounced when she walked. He didn't have to see her face to know that it was her.

She and her date went into the building. In less than a minute Tony could see lights in Michelle's apartment windows. Now all he had to do was to wait for Michelle's date to leave. He hoped that it wouldn't be too long. Now that he was this close to her, he could barely contain himself. He was pleased when within ten minutes Michelle's date exited the building, got into his car and drove away. Tony waited until the man's car was well out of sight before he got out of his own car, walked up to Michelle's apartment and nervously knocked on the door.

Michelle was happy to be home. She probably should have cancelled her date but James was a nice guy and she hated to do that. Besides that, it wasn't just the two of them. They had a day trip planned with another couple, so if she cancelled, she would have ruined the day for all of them. She should have had a good time today, the four of them had gone to the Virginia Wine Festival, but in truth, all she could think about was Tony. She knew that Abby was coming home today and she wondered what Tony had said to her. She desperately wanted to call him but decided against it. He would call her when he was ready.

Michelle kicked off her shoes and started toward her bedroom. She doubted that she would sleep very well, but she was going to bed anyway. She was about to get undressed when she was surprised by a knock at her door. Her first thought was that James was having car trouble and came back to her apartment. She looked through the fisheye in the door and was surprised to see Tony standing on the other side. She simply couldn't open the door fast enough.

"Tony," she said breathlessly. "Hi. What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. I'm sorry I didn't call first," he said as he walked into her apartment.

"Did you talk to Abby?" Michelle asked.

Tony nodded. "This afternoon," he said. "It's over." He said nothing more, but reached out for her.

Michelle stepped toward him. She could feel herself shaking. He pulled her toward him and into a slow, intense kiss. They both groaned softly as their lips met. The kiss was long and passionate. Tony reached behind Michelle's head and took down her hair. He let his hands run through it and let the tendrils coil around his fingers.

"I love you so much," he whispered. He began kissing her again before she could answer him.

They slowed down momentarily in order to catch their breath then Tony allowed his mouth to move down to her neck. Michelle let her hand slide down along Tony's arm until she reached his hand. Their fingers entwined and she wordlessly led him to her bedroom. There they continued to kiss and began undressing each other. They undressed slowly and almost shyly, as if they were doing so for the first time. They weren't in a hurry; no one would ever separate them again. They had all the time in the world. As each piece of clothing was removed, the now bare skin was tenderly kissed and stroked. Neither spoke a word, but both were quietly, constantly vocalizing their pleasure.

Eventually they shed all of their clothes. Michelle again took Tony's hand and led him the few steps to the bed. He sat her on the edge of the bed and knelt down in front of her. He gently pushed her legs apart and lowered his mouth onto her. She lay back on the bed, her feet still on the floor and pushed her pelvis up into him. They both groaned loudly as his tongue gently teased her. Michelle was in constant motion beneath him, her hips rotating madly against him. He tried to slow her down not wanting her to climax too quickly, but it was pointless. She was hungry for his touch and right now she couldn't get enough of it.

"More! More!" she begged in single word pants. "Oh, Tony!" she cried and he felt her entire body tense up and then release into waves of spasms. She finally relaxed, but shuddered at his every touch or kiss. Tony climbed up on the bed with her. Michelle was still trying to get her breath. She smiled at him and then leaned into his mouth. She wanted more of his kisses and he didn't disappoint her. Her hands worked their way down his body and she wrapped them around him and stroked him.

"I want to feel you inside of me," she hissed seductively into his ear.

Tony reached for his pants that lay in a heap on the floor and began rummaging through the pockets.

"What are you doing?" Michelle asked him.

Tony rolled back toward her. "Getting this," he said showing her the condom in his hand. "I won't do to you what Bill did."

Michelle took it from his hand and threw it to the floor. "You're not using that. I want you to feel me the way you're supposed to feel me: with nothing between us. Besides, if I were to become pregnant with your child, I'd be the happiest woman on earth."

Tony pulled her back into his arms and they resumed kissing. He climbed on top of her and pushed gently inside of her. Soon they were pounding out a rhythm that they could scarcely sustain. They both moaned incessantly. They climaxed almost simultaneously and lay exhausted and sweating in the middle of the bed. They lay still for a long time before Tony slid off of her. As he rolled onto his back, he pulled Michelle on top of him. She smiled knowing that he wanted more and she was happy to oblige him. They made love again and afterward lay on their sides facing each other with arms and legs tangled lovingly.

"Tony, I was wrong for leaving you. I…" Michelle started.

"Stop, Michelle. I didn't give you much choice. You did what you had to do. It's in the past. It's over. We both made mistakes, but it's time to forget them and move forward. I don't want to talk about the past any more. I want to talk about our future."

Michelle kissed him softly to thank him. They snuggled close and drifted off into the most peaceful sleep either of them had enjoyed in years.

_I considered ending the story here but I came up with an idea that wasn't included in my original outline. I decided to add three or four more chapters to develop that idea. I hope that it doesn't end up ruining the original story._

_I should be able to post the next chapter in a few days. Hope you'll continue the journey with me!_


	11. Family

_Hi everyone and thanks again for all of your reviews! I have never had this many reviews on one story before. You guys are the greatest! Thanks, too, to those of you who have recently gone back and read some of my old stories and reviewed those. I like some of my old stories better than I like this one, so it's really gratifying to get reviews on those stories._

Chapter 11

Michelle stood at the end of the sliding board and cheered as two and a half year old Conner Antonio Almeida slid down all by himself for the first time. He was a happy-go-lucky little boy who was constantly smiling. Tony and Michelle couldn't have asked for a child with a better disposition. He was a handsome child, too. A mixture of his parents good looks, with the exotic look of a child of mixed race. His skin was a light olive and his hair was black and curly. His mother's Asian heritage was vaguely evident around his eyes and in his fine lips.

"Good job, Conner!" she said as she clapped her hands. "You even climbed up all by yourself. That was great!"

Conner barely heard her as he ran back to the ladder smiling brightly all the way and waited his turn to climb up again. It was a pleasant fall afternoon and the playground was crowded with neighborhood children. Michelle glanced into the stroller at her three month old daughter Chelsea Elizabeth who was beginning to fuss. Chelsea had a far less pleasant disposition than her older brother but despite that, she was the apple of her father's eye. At three months, she was already her daddy's girl.

"What's the matter, Chels?" Michelle asked her as she lifted her up into her arms. "Are you getting hungry? As soon as your brother comes down the slide, I'll feed you."

"Watch, Mommy," Conner called to Michelle from the top. "Watch me slide!" He slid to the bottom and jumped to his feet. "Again?" he asked.

"How about if we sit on the bench and have a snack. Then you can slide again." Michelle suggested.

"I wanna slide!" he told her emphatically.

"I know, but your sister's hungry."

"She's always hungry," he said with a pout.

"I know it seems that way. Come on. I'll read you a story."

Michelle took Conner's hand and led the way to a bench a short distance away but somewhat secluded from the rest of the playground. She sat on the bench and pulled a blanket from her bag. She discreetly draped it over her shoulder and opened her blouse to nurse her daughter.

"Okay, Conner, there are snacks and drinks in the bag. Pick out what you'd like."

Conner dug in the diaper bag for a few moments then held up a small box of raisins and grape juice.

Michelle awkwardly opened the juice with one hand while she held the baby with the other. "Which book would you like to read?"

"Dinosaur book!" Conner said triumphantly once he found it.

The book was his favorite and Michelle and Tony had both read it so many times that they had memorized it. Michelle rolled her eyes and smiled, "Ok, the dinosaur book. Climb up here." She reached out and helped her son onto the bench. He settled in beside her with his snack while Michelle read the book to him.

The last three years of their lives had been unbelievably happy. The Monday after Tony and Michelle reconciled, they went to a nearby courthouse at lunch time and got a marriage license. Then on Friday afternoon, they were married by the Justice of the Peace while Jack and Audrey looked on. They spent the weekend in a harbor-side hotel in nearby Baltimore. In many ways, it was more special to both of them than their first wedding, which had been a big production in a church with friends and family and a huge reception afterward.

Michelle became pregnant almost immediately. She thought it likely that their son had been conceived on that first Saturday night they spent together. When she awoke that Sunday morning, she had a low grade ache in her pelvis like she had every month that let her know she was ovulating. She smiled as she looked at Tony, who was still sleeping, and hoped that one of his precious sperm had found its mark. Tony began to stretch and soon was awake and smiling at her.

"You're smiling," he said as he kissed her cheek and began stroking her body. He was quickly becoming aroused.

"I think I better warn you," she said with a mixture of humor and seriousness in her voice, "I think I'm ovulating."

He looked at her trying to gage her feelings about what she just said. "You're telling me that last night, ah, we might have…" the sentence trailed off.

"Yeah," she said with a shy smile.

"If that happened would you be happy about it?" Tony asked her.

She nodded and smiled. "Very."

He was visibly relieved at her response. "Good, then maybe we should do it again just to make sure."

Michelle laughed. "Really? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely. Let me prove it to you," he said as he climbed on top of her again.

She and Tony were deliriously happy about the baby. Her previous miscarriage made Michelle wary for the first few months, but once she passed the point at which she lost her first child, she breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of her pregnancy would have been uneventful if she hadn't been involved in a car accident several weeks before the baby was due. The accident wasn't terribly serious and her injuries were minor, but the stress caused Michelle to go into labor early. Conner was born six weeks prematurely. He was a little small at first, but he was healthy and grew quickly. Just over two years later they added Chelsea to their family and had already decided that when she was a year old, they would start trying for a third child. Michelle was nearing 40 and they didn't want to wait much longer.

Tony was quickly moving up through the ranks at NSA. His promotions and increase in pay allowed Michelle to quit working at the CIA and stay home with their children. She found a part time job teaching a couple of computer courses three evenings a week at a nearby community college. After the hell they had suffered through when they were married the first time and all of the pain they felt during their long separation, their happiness now seemed magnified a hundred fold.

Michelle had just finished reading the dinosaur book for the second time when Conner's three year old playmate Stephanie came running over to the bench.

"Conner, wanna go on the slide?" she asked.

"Chelsea will be finished eating in a few minutes, Steph, and then Conner can come back to the slide." Michelle told her.

Stephanie's mother Amy, who was also pushing a stroller, caught up with her. "We can see the sliding board from here, Michelle. They'll be fine."

Michelle estimated the distance from the bench to the sliding board and looked at Amy. "I don't usually let Conner go that far by himself."

Amy rolled her eyes. "You worked for the CIA too long. It's a neighborhood playground, Michelle. You know everybody here. Maddy and Liz are over there watching their kids; they'll keep an eye on Conner and Stephanie."

Tony was constantly cautioning Michelle against being too over protective with Conner. Maybe Amy was right, the sliding board wasn't all that far away.

"Okay," she said reluctantly, "but you two stay together and you can only go on the sliding board. I can't see you if you go to the swings."

Conner and Stephanie agreed and ran off toward the sliding board. Amy sat down on the bench with Michelle to talk. They chatted while they watched Conner and Stephanie fly time after time down the sliding board.

"Don't they ever get tired of it?" Michelle asked with amusement.

"I'm tired just watching them," Amy replied.

Chelsea finally finished eating. Michelle buttoned her blouse and packed the blanket and book in the diaper bag. She lifted Chelsea up to her shoulder and patted her on the back to encourage a burp. As she did so, she looked toward the sliding board to check on Conner. She watched as a little boy from down the street came down the slide followed by Taylor, a little girl from across the street. Stephanie came down next. Michelle waited expecting Conner to be next and was surprised when another little head popped up over the top of the ladder and sat down on the sliding board. Michelle continued to watch assuming that Conner would be next when the boy from down the street slid down again.

"Amy, do you see Conner?" Michelle asked trying to sound nonchalant.

The late afternoon air had turned cool and Amy was busy putting a sweatshirt on her own baby. She looked up. "No, but Steph is over there. I'm sure he's close by."

Michelle stood up with Chelsea in her arms and walked quickly toward the sliding board. "Conner!" she shouted. "Conner Almeida, where are you?" She could feel her heart beginning to pound in her throat. "Conner, if you're hiding you need to come out now."

Michelle ran behind the sliding board. "Stephanie," she called the three year old, "where is Conner?"

"He's playing with the little doggie," Stephanie answered.

"What doggie, Steph?" Michelle asked her.

"Over there," Stephanie pointed but there was no one there. "He was over there playing with a little white doggie." She started toward the sliding board but Michelle stopped her.

"Was the doggie alone or was there a person with it?" Michelle asked her trying to stay calm.

"There was a lady with yellow hair. It was her doggie and she said Conner could pet him. She said the doggie didn't like little girls so I should stay away 'cause he might bite me."

Michelle could feel panic about to overtake her as she asked the other mothers if they had seen anything. No one had. She ran to the spot where Stephanie told her that Conner was playing with the dog. It was at the far end of the playground near the exit gate. Michelle called his name repeatedly and stepped out of the gate so that she could see up and down the street. There was no one near and no cars were moving.

Amy and another mother were now helping her look for Conner. "We've looked all over the playground, Michelle. I don't think he's here," Amy said. Fear and regret at talking Michelle into letting Conner go to the sliding board by himself were evident in her eyes.

Michelle pulled out her cell phone and dialed 911. She clutched Chelsea to her as if she feared that she, too, could disappear. "Answer, please answer," she begged as the phone rang. As soon as the line clicked open she frantically began to tell her story. "My son is missing. I'm at the playground at the corner of 9th Avenue and Willow Drive. I think he may have wandered off with a woman who had a dog. We've looked all around and I can't find him. Please send the police now. I'm afraid he's been kidnapped," Michelle was crying now and Amy was trying in vain to console her.

The 911 operator took more information from her and assured Michelle that the police were on their way. Some of the mothers with older children started canvassing the neighborhood in hopes of finding Conner. Amy led her back into the playground and sat her on a bench. Michelle knew she had to call Tony but didn't know how to tell him that she had allowed Conner out of her sight and now he was missing.

"Mr. Almeida's office," Becky answered.

"Becky, it's Michelle Almeida. I need to talk to Tony right now."

"He can't be disturbed right now. He's downstairs in a meeting, Mrs. Almeida. I can have him call you as soon as he's finished."

"This is an emergency, Becky. I have to talk to him right now," Michelle demanded.

"Hold on. I'll try and get in touch with him," Becky told her. She buzzed the intercom in the third floor conference room. "Mr. Almeida," she said.

Tony was in a high level meeting with the Director of NSA, the head of Homeland Security and the National Security Advisor. Becky knew better than to disturb him in a meeting this important. Annoyed, he reached over and touched the intercom button to respond. "Becky, I'll be finished in about 15 minutes. I'll get back to you then."

"Mr. Almeida, I'm sorry to bother you, but I have your wife on line two. She says it's an emergency."

"An emergency? Put her through." Tony looked at the others sitting around the table. "Excuse me, Gentlemen," he said to them as he picked up the phone. "Michelle, what's wrong."

Michelle was sobbing almost hysterically by the time Tony got on the phone. "My God, Michelle! What's wrong? Calm down, Honey." Tony listened as Michelle tried to explain what was happening. He closed his eyes horrified that their son was missing. "Ok, the police are on their way. Try and stay calm, Honey. We'll find him. I'll be there as soon as I can." Tony was almost in shock and felt like everything was moving in slow motion. He hung up the phone and tried to stand up, not sure if his legs would hold him. "I'm sorry, Gentlemen, I have to leave."

The NSA Director knew how cool Tony normally was under pressure. The news he had just been given had left Tony as out of control as the director had ever seen him. He reached over and touched Tony's arm. "Tony, let me have one of our people take you home."

Tony swallowed hard. "Thank you, sir, I'd appreciate that." He closed his eyes again and shook his head. "My wife had our children at a neighborhood playground and now our son is missing. Michelle thinks he was kidnapped."

While Michelle was talking to the police that had arrived at the playground and Tony was on his way to the scene, Conner was sitting happily in a car seat in the back of a black Toyota sedan eating a strawberry ice cream cone. His mother never let him eat ice cream in the car. He liked the nice lady who let him play with her dog and bought him ice cream. Now she was taking him for a ride.

"Are you having fun, Conner?" the lady asked him.

Conner nodded eagerly as he licked the dripping ice cream cone.

"Good, we'll be home soon and then we can play," she told him.

"Okay," he answered between licks.

Tony arrived at the playground, which was now surrounded by crime scene tape, and identified himself as Conner's father. Once they verified his identification, he ducked under the tape and was led onto the playground and to the bench where Michelle sat fearfully clutching their sleeping infant daughter.

"Oh, Tony!" she sobbed as soon as she saw him. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. I should have been watching him closer. I looked away and…"

"Shhh," Tony hushed her gently as he put his arms around her. "You're a good mother, Michelle. This isn't your fault. Try and pull yourself together. Tell me what the police have found."

Michelle led Tony over to Lieutenant Mike Landsman, the officer in charge of the investigation. Landsman confirmed what Tony feared. They had no real leads and little to go on. The only person who could even identify the woman with the dog was a three year old child. Stephanie was intelligent and particularly verbal for her age, but that still didn't make her a good witness. All Stephanie could tell them was that the woman had "yellow hair." She couldn't remember any other details. She had paid much more attention to the dog and when the police showed her pictures of different breeds of dogs, she quickly picked out a West Highland terrier. The police were already talking to local pet stores, animal shelters and vets' offices hoping to possibly identify the owner. It was a long shot, but it was all they had right now. An older woman in the neighborhood remembered seeing a black sedan pull away from the playground around the time in question, but she didn't know a make or model and, in point of fact, it may have had nothing to do with Conner's disappearance.

Lt. Landsman assured Tony and Michelle that the police would continue to canvas the neighborhood in hopes that Conner had simply wandered off. Neither Tony nor Michelle believed that was the case. Conner was very attached to Michelle and neither of them could imagine him going very far away from her. He told them that they would have bloodhounds in the area soon in hopes of picking up the boy's scent. He suggested that Tony and Michelle go home. He would personally make sure that they were given regular updates.

Neither spoke as they walked home from the playground. It was only a couple of blocks from their house. How could this have happened so near their home? The silence at home was unbearable. They were so used to Conner's constant chatter that Tony finally had to put on some music just to create some noise. Michelle refused to put Chelsea down. She carried her as she paced from room to room and finally into Conner's room where she sat on the bed and cried.

She had been crying for a long time when she heard the doorbell ring. Michelle and Tony both flew to the door hoping that the police had brought Conner home. Lt. Landsman stood alone at the door. He knew what they were hoping for and he was sorry to disappoint them.

"Mr. & Mrs. Almeida," he addressed them, "I'm sorry I don't have any new information. I was reading over your statements and something you said concerns me. Could I come in and discuss it?"

Tony nodded and led Landsman into the living room. Neither he nor Michelle spoke.

Landsman continued, "I understand from the statements that you gave one of my officers that you both used to work for the CIA in counter terrorism."

"That's right," Tony answered.

"We're concerned, Mr. & Mrs. Almeida, that this was not a random kidnapping. We're concerned that this may be related to a case that you were involved in when you worked for the CIA. We've requested information regarding cases where one or the other of you was instrumental in apprehending the suspect. The problem is that at this moment, the CIA is being less than helpful. All of the information we're requesting is classified and they're reluctant to release it to us. They said that they will have someone look into it for us but wouldn't agree to any time table. I was hoping that you might know someone who could expedite this for us.

"Who have you been dealing with at CTU?" Tony asked.

"The Special Agent in Charge, a woman named Erin Driscoll," Landsman replied.

"Maybe Chloe or Curtis would do it for us," Michelle suggested.

"They can't do it on their own. They need Driscoll's authorization. We need someone above Driscoll to authorize it," Tony said

Michelle nodded. "Let me have your phone."

"Who are you calling?"

"Bill Buchanan," she told him. Then into the phone, "Yes, this is Michelle Almeida. I'd like to speak to Bill Buchanan." She was silent for a moment while the call was transferred.

"Michelle, it's good to hear from you," Buchanan said. "How have you been?"

Michelle quickly brought Bill up to speed on what had occurred. "So what I'm asking, Bill, is that you authorize CTU to reopen those files and share their information with the local police here in Maryland."

"Michelle, we're talking dozens and dozens of cases. I understand how important this is to you. I'm a parent now, too, so I understand how frightening this must be for you. But this could involve hundreds of man hours. If you could narrow it down to some likely cases, I could have Chloe review them and release the pertinent information to the local authorities. Do you have anyone in particular that you suspect?"

"Not off the top of my head, Bill. Let me ask Tony." Michelle covered the receiver and asked Tony the same question. He immediately nodded his head.

"Jane Saunders," he said without hesitation. "I essentially kidnapped her and tried to exchange her for you. I could tell at the time that she hated me. This must be how she decided to get back at me."

"Bill," Michele said uncovering the phone, "Tony thinks that Jane Saunders might be involved. She's the daughter of Stephen Saunders. Can you have Chloe look into her whereabouts?"

"I'll do that and I'll have Chloe get back to you. I'll also have her search the records for any cases in which you or your family was threatened and she can follow up on those, too. I wish I could do more, but I'm sure you understand, Michelle, this is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"I understand, Bill. Any help you can give us is appreciated." They said their goodbyes and Michelle hung up. "They're going to take a look at Jane Saunders and Chloe will get back to us," she shrugged. "I guess it's something." Tears dripped slowly from her eyes and a sob escaped from her throat.

"Let me know when you get any information from CTU," Landsman instructed them as he stood to leave. "I've called the FBI. I'd like their missing children's taskforce to get involved. You should hear from them later tonight or tomorrow morning after they've reviewed the case. Your boss called me from NSA, Mr. Almeida. I assured him that we were doing everything possible to find your son."

"We know you are, lieutenant," Tony told him as he walked Landsman to the door.

Tony returned to the sofa where Michelle was sitting with Chelsea. He put his arm around her and she shifted the baby so that they could cradle her between them. Chelsea stretched and yawned and she wrapped her tiny fingers around Tony's much larger one. Her parents watched her in silence.

"She's too little to understand what's going on," Michelle whispered trying hard not to cry.

"She's lucky," Tony replied never taking his eyes off of their daughter.

"She could grow up and never even remember Conner," Michelle said. This time she couldn't control her tears.

"Don't say that, Michelle," Tony admonished her quietly as he pulled her face against his neck. "Don't say that, Sweetheart. We'll get him back. We can't give up on him." Now Tony was crying, too. He wondered where his son was. Was he hungry or cold? Was he hurt or scared? Conner hated the dark. He just hoped that whoever had him kept a nightlight on for him. He prayed that whoever had him would take care of him. He desperately feared having to identify his son's body. Please, God, he begged silently, don't let them hurt him. Please don't let them hurt him.

Less than 20 miles away in a secluded house, Conner was playing on the floor with the white dog, whose name was Scooter, and some building blocks. He and the nice lady were building a skyscraper and playing a game. She was pretending to be his mommy and that his name was Carlos. Conner liked the game; it was fun. They played for a long time before Conner started to get sleepy. The nice lady gave him a bath, but it wasn't like when his mother gave him a bath. She dressed him in new pajamas. They weren't his Elmo pajamas, but they were nice. Then she sat him on the sofa to read him a story.

"Dinosaur book," Conner told her.

"I don't have your dinosaur book, Carlos," she told him. "Let's read one of these new books."

"I want dinosaur! Daddy reads my dinosaur book before bed." Conner looked around him as if he suddenly realized that his parents weren't there. "Where's my Daddy?" He jumped off the sofa and started to look around the house. "Daddy, Daddy," he called. Scooter followed close behind.

"Daddy's not here right now, Carlos," the woman told him.

"Where's my Mommy?" Conner questioned.

"She's not here either, Honey. You know they're pretty busy taking care of Chelsea and they asked me to take care of you for a while. They just don't have time for a little boy and I do. I wanted a little boy. Okay? So, you're going to live with me."

None of that was okay with Conner. For the first time he started to look scared and he started to cry. "I want my Mommy! I want my Daddy!" he wailed.

The lady picked him up and rocked him. He cried for a long time until he finally fell asleep in her arms. She carried him to bed and tucked him in hoping that he would sleep thought the night. Kids were way too much trouble. She wondered why anyone would have one. Oh, well, she had already hired a full time babysitter to take care of the little rugrat. So she really wouldn't have to deal with him very much. She had to admit, he was a cute little guy. He looked a lot like Tony, so he couldn't help but be handsome. Of course, he looked a little like Michelle, too, but that probably couldn't be helped. Her thoughts were distracted when her phone rang. She followed the sound and found the phone in the kitchen.

"Hello," she said.

"Abby, it's Doug Nelson," said the voice. Nelson was the Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore office of the FBI.

"Doug? What can I do for you?" she asked.

"I need a favor, Abby. Our office is investigating a child abduction and I was hoping you could help us."

"I guess you haven't heard the news, Doug. I don't work for the FBI anymore and even when I did, I worked out of Washington. Today was my last day. I took a job in Miami. I'll be working in a private practice with a group of clinical psychologists."

"I know that, Abby, but this would be a favor to me. The missing kid's father is a bigwig at NSA and they're putting a lot of pressure on me to find the boy. You're the best profiler that the missing children's taskforce ever had. I just want you to talk to the family and look at the case and tell me what you think. I'll pay you as a consultant at top dollar, Abby. I really need your help right now."

Abby sighed, "Alright, I'll do it. Can it wait until tomorrow morning? I have a house guest right now and I hate to leave."

"Sure, you can do it first thing in the morning." Doug agreed. He started to outline the details of the case. Abby took down the information as if she knew nothing about it. She acted shocked when she heard Tony's name. "Don't you watch the news, Abby?" Doug asked. "This kid's picture is on every channel. How do you know the father?"

"I stopped watching the news years ago. It's too depressing," Abby said nonchalantly. "And if you must know, I was engaged to Tony Almeida," she added.

"I'm sorry. I had no idea. I hope this isn't too awkward for you."

"Don't worry about it. I'll stop by the Washington office in the morning and put together a profile."

"You need to talk to the family," Doug told her.

"Why? Haven't your people already done that?"

"Yes, but I want you to talk to them. I want the NSA director to know that we're doing everything possible to find this kid. Come on, Abby, you know you can't do an adequate job without seeing the scene and talking to the family. I know I've put you in a bad position, but…"

"Forget it," she interrupted. "You're right, I need to talk to them. I'll go over in the morning."

"Thanks, Abby," Doug said. "I owe you big time."

"No problem," Abby said as she hung up the phone.

This was a wrinkle that she had never imagined. Oh, well, she would just have to deal with it. She would put in a few hours of time and produce a plausible report. It was so easy that she could do it in her sleep and it would lead them away from her. She would give the police a profile of a despondent Hispanic woman whose son had died. The woman kidnapped Conner to replace her own son. They would be tracking down empty leads for weeks while she was living in Miami with Conner.

She called the babysitter, Octavia, and told her to be there first thing tomorrow morning. Octavia would do whatever Abby told her. She was an illegal alien from Columbia. She was wanted there in connection with the murder of a judge. The FBI had already arrested her boyfriend and deported him. He implicated her, but she had been able to avoid detection. Actually, Abby knew exactly where she was and was helping her maintain cover. She needed Octavia for the plan she had been hatching for months, ever since she ran into Tony and Michelle last spring.

She hadn't thought much about Tony for the last year or two. In truth, their relationship had deteriorated so badly during its last few months that it was almost a relief to have it over. She was seriously dating a college professor and they were beginning to talk about marriage. She saw Tony that day walking near the Tidal Basin viewing the cherry blossoms near the same spot where he had proposed to her. He was carrying his son and holding hands with a very pregnant Michelle. He never saw her. He was talking to Michelle and laughing. He dropped her hand for a moment and put his hand on her belly. Abby didn't know why, but seeing him, seeing them as a family, triggered something in her. She wasn't sure what is was or why it happened, but it gnawed at her and kept her awake at night. She started focusing on the little boy. Either he was awfully big for his age or he was older than she was guessing he should be. Abby finally decided to look at vital statistics and find his birth date. She soon found the date. It was only about seven and a half months after she and Tony had split up. She continued looking through the vital statistics records and quickly located Tony and Michelle's marriage certificate and checked the date.

"You bastard!" she shouted into the empty room around her. "You son of a bitch! You got married less than a week after we broke up and your baby was born seven months later! You were cheating on me! Michelle was pregnant before we ever broke up. You bastard!" she railed angrily not knowing, of course, that Conner had been born prematurely.

The idea that Tony was cheating on her unleashed a hate in her that she hadn't thought possible. She decided after weeks of sleepless nights that she had to get back at him. He made a fool of her and she couldn't let him get away with it. She had to hit him where it hurt the most. In her rage, she considered killing him but she wanted to hurt him directly. Killing him was too easy. Killing Michelle was a possibility. Killing his pregnant wife would definitely hurt him. That would serve him right for cheating on her and thinking that she would never find out. But, no, she wanted to hurt Michelle, too. She wanted both of them to hurt. Kidnapping their child would devastate both of them. Soon her eerie plan was taking shape. She followed Michelle every chance she got and learned her routines. She quickly decided that the playground where they spent nearly every afternoon would be the best place to nab the child. The plan had gone off without a hitch until now. Abby assured herself that this was a minor problem. Yes, a minor problem, she thought as she poured herself a gin and tonic and made her way toward her bedroom.


	12. Suspicions

_Hi and thanks again to everyone for your reviews. There were several issues/questions brought up in the chapter 11 reviews that I wanted to take a second to address._

_Anisha – I hate to break it to you, but Nina's dead. No, Abby isn't working with her. This story follows 24 cannon until episode 4x21 so Nina is not only dead on the show but in this story, too._

_Dessler – thanks for the compliment but in truth, I'm not that good at writing fluff. My only real fluff story was "First Date". As far as I am concerned, the best T/M fluff on this site is written by AlmeidaFluff. If you haven't read it yet, please do. It's wonderful stuff._

_AliciaFB and Dazzi – sorry that I didn't include a family reaction to the T/M reunion. Frankly, it didn't even cross my mind to do so. I assumed that both families would be happy since Michelle's family didn't like Bill and Tony's family wasn't crazy about Abby._

_JimKeller24 – if you are looking for a story about T/M family life, try my story "Undercover". It deals a lot with their family life._

_Amy – I've never seen "Deep End of the Ocean" so I'm not sure what it was about. Keep reading and let me know if I somehow duplicate that story line. If I do, it was unintentional. _

_Laurie – you asked me which of my stories was my favorite. I had to think about it, but I think my absolute favorite is "Undercover". It had a main story line and a couple of subplots that make it more professional than my other stories. I also really like "Escape to Argentina", "Carnival Town" and "Come Away With Me". Thanks for asking._

Chapter 12: Suspicions

It was fast approaching midnight and Tony and Michelle were facing a long sleepless night. Tony's parents were able to book a flight out of Chicago and were due to arrive in an hour. Michelle's mother and her brother, Danny, were taking a redeye from LA to Washington and would arrive in the morning. Lt. Landsman had called about a half hour earlier to check in. He didn't have any news and wondered if they had heard from CTU. Tony said that they expected to hear something any minute and he would let Landsman know as soon as they had any information.

The phone rang and Tony answered it anxiously.

"Hello," he said.

"Tony, it's Chloe. How are you guys holding up?"

"Not great, Chloe. I'm hoping you have some information for us."

"It sure is bad luck. You guys finally get your lives back together and your son is kidnapped." Chloe had a way of stating the obvious that no one else could get away with, yet from Chloe it was simply expected.

"Yeah, right," Tony answered impatiently. "Chloe what do you have on Jane Saunders?"

"From what I can tell, she's not your kidnapper."

"What do you mean?"

"She's a graduate student at Pepperdine University. She's working on a master's degree in education. I've reviewed all of the flight manifests in the past few days and as far as I can tell, she hasn't left the area. She couldn't have been in the Baltimore-Washington area today to kidnap your son."

"She could have paid someone to do it," Tony suggested.

"I thought of that. I reviewed all of her bank and credit card records. It looks to me like she's your average starving graduate student. She has bank accounts that total a little less than a thousand dollars. Her credit cards all have balances on them, but nothing out of the ordinary. She hasn't made any unusual transactions in the last several months."

"Are you sure her father didn't leave her any money in off shore or Swiss accounts?"

"Not as far as I can tell. When her father died, all of his assets were confiscated by the government. She inherited nothing from her father. Like I said before, she looks like a starving grad student. She rents a house with four other people and drives an eight year old car. If her father had left her an off shore account she would be spending the money on something and I could track it. I'm sorry, Tony. Believe me, I was hoping that I'd find something but nothing here leads me to believe that she's the culprit. Is there anyone else that you think might want to hurt either you or Michelle this way?"

"I can't think of anybody off hand. Did you review any of the death threats that either of us received while we were at CTU?"

"I did. There were four of them between you. All four are in prison and have no ties to the east coast. I called the prisons. I'm getting a list of their phone calls and visitors for the last six months to see if I can find anything. I hope this helps, Tony."

"So do I," Tony agreed. "Thanks for your help, Chloe. Michelle and I really appreciate it." They disconnected and Tony looked at Michelle who could tell by the tenor of the call that Chloe hadn't been able to give him any information that would lead them to find Conner.

Morning came far too fast for Abby's taste. She had never been a morning person so she was particularly unhappy when Conner was up by 6 o'clock. He and Scooter were running around the house playing. Scooter barked happily enjoying his new friend.

Conner ran into her bedroom with Scooter in tow. "Wake up!" he said to Abby. "I'll be Carlos again. You be Mommy. Okay? Later, can I go back home. I miss my real Mommy."

Abby forced herself to smile at him. She dragged herself out of bed and into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face to revive herself. Octavia would be here in an hour and then she could deal with this little bundle of energy. She took Conner downstairs and gave him Cheerios for breakfast. He seemed happy enough with that although he wouldn't let her put the milk on them. He preferred to eat them dry and wash them down with milk. And he kept asking for something he called a "sippy cup". She had no idea what that was so she gave him his milk in a small mug. He liked that but he made a mess. She wasn't sure why kids had to be so difficult.

Octavia arrived at 7 on the dot. Abby had told her that she was adopting a little boy and she needed a live in nanny to move to Miami with her. Octavia thought it odd that an FBI agent would be willing to harbor an illegal alien and fugitive and use her as a nanny but she figured that Abby was just trying to be cheap and didn't want to pay the going rate for a live in nanny. Octavia didn't really care what Abby's motives were. She just wanted out of Washington and what better place than Miami. She would blend right in there.

"Okay, here's the deal," Abby told her. "I got called into the office unexpectedly. I need you to watch Carlos. He's still in his pajamas but there are clothes upstairs for him. Get him dressed. I want you to keep him inside and play with him. I want him tired when I get home. He's got a lot of energy and I still have a lot of packing to do so I don't have time to deal with him tonight."

Conner heard the voices and followed them into the kitchen. "Mommy," he said. "Let's play."

"This is your new friend Octavia," Abby told him in her sweetest, most motherly voice. "I have to go to work today, but Octavia is going to play with you all day. You be good for her, okay."

Octavia recognized Conner from his pictures on the news. She had watched his parent's impassioned pleas for his safe return. "Go play for a couple of minutes, Carlos. I'll be right there," Octavia told him. She looked at Abby through narrowed eyes. "I thought you said you adopted him. I saw him on the news; he was kidnapped."

"Maybe he was, but you aren't in a position to tell anyone. If you do, you'll go to prison. Not only are you wanted in Columbia, but you're an accessory after the fact in his disappearance. So now you're wanted in two countries," Abby said with a malicious smirk. She turned and made her way upstairs so that she could get dressed and ready to go. She had to look especially good today when she met with Tony.

Abby stood in front of her closet deciding what to wear. It was an easy choice. She had a sleek black skirt that she wore with a tight fitting black sleeveless, mock turtleneck. The combination accentuated her already stunning figure. It was a figure that hadn't been distorted by two pregnancies like Michelle's had, Abby reminded herself. She would cover it with a black tweed blazer. Around her neck she would wear the necklace that she had had made from the engagement ring Tony gave her. She would pull her hair up and wear diamond stud earrings. It gave her an elegant, understated look that she liked when she stepped in front of the mirror.

Forty-five minutes later she was ringing the Almeida's doorbell. Tony's mother, Erica, answered. "Hello, Erica," Abby said.

Erica was shocked to see her almost-daughter-in-law standing at the door. "Abby, what a surprise," Erica said as she collected her wits.

"Unfortunately, this isn't a social call. I'm investigating your grandson's disappearance for the FBI."

"Where are my manners?" Erica said politely. "Come in. I'll get Tony. Michelle's feeding the baby right now." Erica led Abby into the living room and ran upstairs to get Tony.

Tony descended the steps a few seconds later. "Abby, it's good to see you. I had no idea you were on the case," he told her.

"I'm doing it as a favor to the SAC in the Baltimore office. I'm not with the FBI any more. I'm in the process of moving to Miami to work with a group of psychologists in a private practice."

"That's great," Tony said numbly. "Thanks for helping out here before you leave." He motioned to the chair she had been sitting in. "Why don't you sit down and I'll answer any questions you have. Michelle will be down in a few minutes. I'm sure you've read the police report."

"No, I prefer not to read their report. I like to get the information from family and witnesses." They sat down and Abby opened up a laptop. Tony immediately noticed the diamond and ruby necklace she wore and recognized the stones as belonging to the engagement ring he had given her.

"It's pretty simple. Michelle had the kids at the playground. Conner was playing with one of his friends on the sliding board. Michelle was distracted by the baby and looked away. According to Conner's friend a blond woman with a dog called Conner over. She was definitely interested in Conner and not in the other child and told the other child to stay back because the dog might bite. The other child went back to the sliding board. When Michelle looked up again, Conner was gone. All of the adults and children at the playground were questioned. No one other than Conner's playmate saw anything. A lady across the street saw a black sedan leave the scene around the time in question. She's a nice lady, but she's about 80 and I'm not sure that she's a reliable witness. We have no other leads."

"How old is Conner's playmate?"

"Three," Tony answered.

"Could the child give you a better description of the woman?"

"No," Tony said shaking his head.

"Do you have a description of the dog?"

"The police think it was a West Highland terrier."

Abby shook her head. "Tony, this isn't much to go on."

"I know, but it's all we've got." He admitted. Tony looked up as Michelle descended the stairs holding Chelsea. She and Abby exchanged awkward greetings as Erica took Chelsea from Michelle's arms.

"I was just going over the timeline for Abby," Tony told her.

Michelle nodded and looked at Abby. "I was in the room at the top of the stairs, so I could pretty much hear your conversation."

"Was there anything you wanted to add?" Abby asked her.

"Not really. Tony told you everything we know. The police think it's possible that Conner's kidnapping is somehow related to one of the cases we worked on while we were with CTU. We have someone at CTU looking at some of our old cases to see if they can connect them to Conner's disappearance."

"Have they come up with anything?"

"Nothing yet," Tony told her.

"To tell you the truth, I think they're barking up the wrong tree. I've profiled child abductions around the country and I doubt that this is retaliation by a terrorist. I think it's a lot simpler than that. Conner was clearly singled out on the playground. So someone wanted a Hispanic male child between two and three years old. More than likely, the abductor is a Hispanic woman whose own son has died. The death may or may not have been recent, but the child was either Conner's age when he died or would he around Conner's age now. She took Conner to replace her own child. If it's any comfort to you, she won't hurt him. In the meantime, I'll recommend to the police that they review death certificates on Hispanic male children that would be about Conner's age and then question the mothers. She can't keep him hidden for long. Soon her family or friends are going to see him and figure it out. Conner's picture has been all over the news. I know you want him back now, but this type of abduction is usually resolved in a couple of weeks and the child is rarely harmed."

"I'd like to think your theory is correct, Abby, but how do you explain a witness describing the abductor as blond? I don't know a whole lot of blond Hispanic women," Tony queried her.

"Tony, your witness is a three year old girl. We can't put a whole lot of weight on her testimony," Abby rebutted. "You know full week that eyewitness identification is rarely reliable. In this case we're putting our trust a three year old girl. On top of that, we've got an 80 year old woman telling us the get away car is a black Toyota and we're taking it as gospel."

"A black sedan," Tony corrected. "She didn't identify it as a Toyota."

Abby looked over her notes, "Your right. She didn't identify the make. My mistake, but you get my point."

"Your point is well taken," Tony told her, "and I'm happy to have the police investigate your theory that the kidnapper is Hispanic, but I don't want them to abandon the only lead we have. Talk to the witnesses before you make a decision, Abby. The three year old is very articulate. You might find her pretty reliable."

"I'm not sure either of the witnesses are worth my time. I'll read the police report," she told him.

"Abby, you're brushing these witnesses off like they don't exist. At least take a few minutes and talk to them," Tony pleaded. "Our child's life is at stake here."

Abby softened, "Let me read the police report and then I'll make a decision as to whether or not to talk to them. Okay?"

"Fine," Tony said with a hint of exasperation in his voice. He was going to talk to Lt. Landsman about Abby's report. She clearly intended to do as little as possible. He understood her apathy or even dislike toward he and Michelle, but there was a child at stake here. He didn't understand why she couldn't put her personal feelings aside.

Michelle was thinking the same thing and couldn't keep it in any longer. "Look, Abby, I understand how you must feel about me, about both of us, but our son was kidnapped. He's innocent, Abby. He can't help who his parents are. I'd like to think the agent assigned to the case could forget that she doesn't like the parents and concentrate on finding the child. Please, I'm begging you. If you can't give this case your undivided and unbiased attention, then have the FBI put someone else on it."

Abby's eyes narrowed slightly. "Are you suggesting that I'm not being professional?"

"I'm suggesting that you're willing to gloss over the details and put out a report quickly so you don't have to interact with us any more," Michelle told her matching Abby's cold tone.

The doorbell rang startling all of them.

"I'll get it," Erica called from the next room. She started for the door still holding Chelsea.

"Erica! No," Michelle cried as she jumped from the chair. "Please don't take Chelsea near the door," she said anxiously. She looked around and realized how ridiculous that sounded. "I'm sorry," Michelle whispered as he voice broke with emotion. "I'm so afraid of losing her."

"Oh, Honey," Erica said soothingly, "Chelsea is safe. I'll stay here; you go get the door. It's probably your mother and Danny."

Michelle nodded, her eyes filled with tears as she walked to the door. Erica was right, it was Michelle's family. They entered the house and exchanged tearful greetings with her. As they did, Abby closed her laptop and stood up.

"I'll get out of your way. I know this is an emotional time for you," she told Tony. "The police will have my report this afternoon. I'm sure they'll go over it with you. I hope they find your son, Tony. I've seen other parents go through this and I know that it's hell. You just have to hope for the best."

Abby said a quick goodbye to Michelle and Erica but didn't wait to be introduced to Michelle's family. She walked quickly to the FBI staff car that she borrowed this morning. She couldn't take the chance of anyone recognizing her black Toyota Camry. As she started the car and pulled away from the curb, she smiled inwardly. She thought she handled it well. She could have been a little softer, perhaps, but overall, it went well. Tony definitely noticed her necklace. She saw his eyes drift down to it and settle there for a moment. To her dismay, he didn't let his eyes drift any further downward but instead raised them and methodically related the events of the past day. Oh, well, Abby hadn't expected him to notice her; he had too much on his mind. She had been upset when Doug Nelson called her and asked her to take this case, but now she was glad she agreed. It was fun to watch what she had done to Tony and Michelle. Mission accomplished. She wanted to hurt them and she had hurt them to the core. Just to watch Michelle jump when Erica took the baby near the door was priceless!

Tony stood on the porch and watched Abby drive away. The interview with Abby left Tony unsettled. Something about it wasn't right. True, it was awkward to be near her, but it was more than just that. She expressed her concern, but it didn't seem real. It felt contrived as if she enjoyed seeing him in so much pain. She got awfully defensive when Michelle suggested that she wasn't doing a thorough job. He tried to shrug it off. Maybe he was just imagining things. He hadn't slept in over 24 hours now and he was exhausted. He went inside hoping to get some rest. He knew he would be able to think more clearly after some rest.

Inside of the house felt like constant motion to Tony. His parents and his in-laws were all there. Everyone was worried and on edge and he knew that they would soon be getting on each other's nerves. Tony found Michelle in the family room with both mothers rehashing the story of Conner's kidnapping for the hundredth time. He couldn't bear to listen to it again. Chelsea was asleep in Michelle's arms.

"Here, Sweetheart," Tony said leaning over Michelle. "I'll take Chelsea upstairs. She can sleep in the bassinette in our room and I'll lie down on the bed. That way she won't be alone in the room."

Michelle agreed and Tony took the baby upstairs. He tenderly placed her in the bassinette and made sure she was covered with a light blanket. He had been vaguely annoyed by Michelle's insistence that Chelsea not be left alone in a room even when she was asleep but after kicking off his shoes and lying down on the bed several feet from the bassinette, Tony realized that he, too, feared for their daughter's safety. He got back up and moved the bassinette closer. This way, if he lay on his side, he could keep one hand on the bassinette. He was amazed at how much better it made him feel.

Tony was so tired that it only took him a few minutes to fall asleep. He awoke about an hour and a half later, his arm numb from the position it was in on the edge of the bassinette. He winced as he moved his arm to rest it on the bed. At the same time he peeked over the side of the bassinette to make sure that Chelsea was safe. She was sleeping peacefully and Tony drew a sigh of relief.

Now that he was awake, he doubted that he would go back to sleep. He rolled over on his back and stared at the ceiling. He started replaying his earlier conversation with Abby in his mind. It still felt wrong and he didn't know why. He kept hearing her say _the abductor is a Hispanic woman._ He had argued the point. _How do you explain a witness describing the abductor as blond?_ He had asked her. She had answered him sharply: _Tony, your witness is a three year old girl._ In his mind he heard it over and over again: _a three year old girl, a three year old girl, a three year old GIRL!_

Abby had referred to the witness as a girl. He had never described the child as a girl. He had referred to her as a playmate, a friend, a child, but never as a girl or by her first name. Why would Abby have assumed that Conner's playmate was a girl? Most people would automatically assume that a little boy's playmate was another boy. The witness's age and sex were included in the police report but she told him that she hadn't read the report. Tony realized of course that Abby had a 50:50 chance of guessing the witness's sex correctly. But something else was bothering him.

Abby told him from the beginning that she didn't like to read police reports, that she liked to interview witnesses herself. Then she turned around and all but refused to interview the witnesses calling it a waste of her time.

Tony sat up on the bed trying to make sense of everything. The conversation continued to swirl in his brain. He suddenly remembered the conversation regarding the kidnapper's vehicle. W_e've got an 80 year old woman telling us the get away car is a black Toyota. _She said to him. He had corrected her: _A black sedan_. She _didn't identify it as a Toyota_. _You're right. She didn't identify the make. My mistake, but you get my point_. She had quickly countered and changed the subject.

Why would Abby have specifically mentioned a Toyota? As he had previously noted, she had a 50 percent chance of guessing the witness's sex right but there were dozens of car models. Why did "Toyota" so quickly roll off of her tongue? He thought back about the car Abby was driving when she left their home. It was unmarked but was quite obviously an FBI staff car. Why would Abby have taken the time to stop at either the Washington or Baltimore office, drop off her car and get a staff car? It would have been easier to use her own. Since she no longer worked for the FBI, he had to assume that she was being paid as a consultant. She would have been paid for her mileage if she submitted it with her bill.

All of the sudden nothing made sense to him. There were too many unanswered questions. Tony stood up from the bed and found his cell phone on the dresser. He dialed the number for CTU-Los Angeles and asked for Chloe O'Brien.

"Hey, Tony," she said. "I'm looking into a couple of other possible suspects right now."

"Thanks, Chloe," he told her. "I had someone else that I want you to look at."

"Give me the name," Chloe instructed.

"The name is Abigail Marie Clark," Tony said.

"Abigail Marie Clark? That name isn't anywhere in your file. Where did you come up with that one?"

"She's a former FBI profiler who I was engaged to before Michelle and I remarried."

"You broke up with her three years ago and now you think she kidnapped your son?"

"I don't know what to think, but she's acting suspiciously. Do me a favor and check with the Maryland motor vehicle administration and see what make and model of car is registered in her name. If she drives a black Toyota sedan, I'll be even more suspicious than I am right now."

"That'll take me a few minutes. Give me her date of birth."

Tony rattled off her date of birth and her address from three years ago. Chloe thanked him and said she'd be back to him as soon as possible. Tony lay back down on the bed. His heart was beating a mile a minute. It was almost a half hour before she called back.

"I got the information that you wanted. I'm sorry that it took so long. I ended up digging through some things other than her car registration. You were right about the car. It's a black Toyota Camry, but it's registered in Virginia, not Maryland. Clark's current address is in Virginia. The address you gave me was actually two addresses ago. She left that apartment and bought a condo in Washington with a man named Matthew Waters. He's a history professor at Georgetown. They must have broken up, because they sold that in early summer and she moved into her current address. It's a rental property."

"How do you know that Abby moved there by herself? She and Waters could have moved there together."

Chloe continued. "Waters turned around and bought a less expensive place outside was Washington. His name is the only one on the closing documents," Chloe paused. "I also did a quick check of her credit cards and bank statements. Nothing really jumped out at me. She pays the same bills the rest of us do. You know rent, utilities, credit card, that kind of stuff.

"Can you tell me if she paid rent for next month?"

Tony could hear Chloe tapping on the keyboard. "It doesn't look like it. All of the checks to her landlord clear the bank around the 25th of each month. Today is the 29th and nothing has cleared. So based on this, she's not planning to stay another month."

"Has she made any credit card purchases that seemed unusual?" Tony asked.

"One purchase stood out. She spent over $400 less than a week ago at 'Toys R Us'. Among the purchases, she bought a child's car seat, a stroller, a bunch of clothes, some toys and children's DVDs and books. Single women without kids don't spend that much in a toy store. You might go in and buy a gift for someone, but $400 is a hefty gift even for a family member.

"Yeah, I agree," Tony told her. "Anything else?"

"Yeah, one other transaction caught my eye. It was a $575 check to Littlevale Kennel in Frederick, Maryland. It's a breeder that specializes in small dogs."

"What kind of dogs, Chloe?"

"I went to their website. It looks like they have Scottish terriers, Cairn terriers, and West Highland terriers."

Tony was literally shaking at this point; he could barely keep his voice calm. "Can you tell what kind of dog she bought?"

"No, I can't even tell if she actually bought a dog. She made a check out to the Kennel; I don't know what it was for."

"Give me Abby's current address and the license number on her car." Tony told her.

Chloe gave Tony the information he needed. "I sure hope this helps, Tony. You and Michelle must be a wreck by now."

"That's an understatement," he told her. "I think you've helped a lot. I'll let you know if I need anything else. If you find anything more, call me on my cell. I'm not ready for Michelle to hear any of this. It might not mean a thing and I don't want to get her hopes up."

They disconnected and Tony set his phone back on the dresser. His mind was spinning out of control. He had to slow himself down and think about how to proceed. He was now certain that Abby was the kidnapper but he had to figure out how to prove it.


	13. The Plan

_Thanks again for all of the reviews! Here's chapter 13. Let me know what you think. _

Chapter 13: The Plan

Tony paced the room as he formulated a plan. His gut instinct was to grab his gun and head straight for Abby's address. He would get his son back and he didn't care if he had to kill Abby in the process. Tony quickly pushed that irrational thought aside. Such a move could put Conner in danger and he would never intentionally do that. He picked up his phone and to call Lt. Landsman.

"Landsman," the lieutenant said as he picked up the phone.

"Lieutenant, this is Tony Almeida. I just got some information regarding my son's whereabouts. I think I know who abducted him."

"You do? Who do you think has him, Mr. Almeida?"

Tony quickly recapped his previous relationship with Abby Clark and their conversation. He continued by telling Landsman about Abby's recent purchases and the fact that the lease on her house was about to run out.

"The evidence was circumstantial," Tony admitted, "but put together with a motive and you have a fairly strong case to search her house."

Landsman was silent for a moment while he considered what Tony was suggesting. "Abby Clark had been a respected member of the law enforcement community for years. She has a flawless record. I can't search her house just because she's made some purchases at "Toys R Us" and a kennel. I can't get a judge to issue a search warrant on that kind of circumstantial evidence."

"You have a motive, Lieutenant," Tony stressed.

"Mr. Almeida, I'm not sure that a broken engagement three years ago can be considered a motive for kidnapping. In that period of time has she ever stalked or harassed you or your wife?"

"No, she hasn't," Tony answered his voice somewhat deflated. "I know this sounds weak, Lieutenant, but I wish you would humor me and just put a watch on her."

"I can't justify putting a tail on an FBI agent who's received more than one commendation over the last couple of years for her outstanding work. When you think this through, Mr. Almeida, you'll understand where I'm coming from."

In a matter of a few minutes it had become clear to him that Landsman thought he was simply a hysterical father of a missing child. And for a second or two Tony thought he might be right. "You're right, Lieutenant. I'm overreacting. I'm sorry to have disturbed you."

Tony hung up feeling utterly defeated. The police weren't even willing to listen to his concerns let alone act upon them. Tony was on his own now. If he wanted proof that Abby was the kidnapper, he was going to have to get it himself. The other problem was that Abby was smart. If she got even a hint that Tony was on to her, she would be gone and no one would ever find her again. He suspected that she had already secured a new identity for Conner and she may have one for herself as well. Tony had to be careful.

He decided that his first move was to see where Abby was living and watch her comings and goings for a while. There was no way he could do that without explaining to Michelle where he was going. No, he would need help for this; he needed Jack's help. Within a minute he had Jack on the phone.

"Tony, how are you two holding up? Is there any word on Conner?" Jack asked.

"The police don't have anything yet, Jack, but I'm floating my own theory," Tony told him.

"You are?"

"Yeah, I think Abby has him."

Tony's statement was met with silence. "Abby? Abby Clark? Why would you think Abby has Conner?"

Tony explained that Abby was sent in by the FBI as a profiler and gave Jack the details of their conversation earlier today. "I never told her that the child who saw Conner with the dog and the woman was a girl and yet she assumed that. She also assumed that black sedan that was seen leaving the scene was a Toyota. She drives a black Toyota Camry, Jack. I had Chloe check the registration. On top of that, she recently bought a car seat and stroller and wrote a $575 check to a kennel that specializes in breeding terriers. The lease on the place she's renting expires in a couple of days. I'm afraid that she's in the process of moving. If she moves, we'll never find Conner. The two of them will disappear forever, Jack. I need you to help me get Conner back."

"Have you called the police?"

"Yeah, they said the evidence was circumstantial, the motive was weak and they weren't willing to put a tail on a well respected member of the law enforcement community. I've got to get proof before they're going to do anything."

"Ok," Jack agreed. "How do you want to proceed?"

"I don't want to tell Michelle about any of this. I don't want to get her hopes up and then find out that I'm wrong. I've got Abby's current address. I was hoping you could stake the place out for me and see if you can get any proof that she has Conner. If you can, then I'll go to the police with it."

"And if I can't get you any proof?"

"I'm going into the house myself to take a look," Tony told him.

"You can't do that alone, Tony. You know she's armed," Jack warned him.

"Yeah right, Jack," Tony scoffed. "So were the Drazens and I seem to remember that you were willing to go in alone to get Kim. They had a lot more weapons at their disposal than Abby has at hers."

"Yeah, and I was damn near killed. First of all, you're not going in at all unless it's a last resort. And if you have to go in, I'll be right beside you. Now, give me the address and I'll see what I can find out."

Jack took down the address and said goodbye. Fortunately, Audrey was spending the day with her father at a fundraiser for the National Zoo. She had taken their three year old twin daughters, Susan and Margaret, with her. They would be gone until early evening. That gave Jack a nice block of time to keep an eye on Abby's address without having to explain his whereabouts.

Jack drove the 15 miles from his Virginia home to the address Tony had given him. It was an unusual place for a single woman with no children to live. The house was large for one person. It was secluded, having been situated well back from the road and surrounded by trees. Jack almost considered it creepy. He drove past once and took note of the "For Rent" sign in the front yard and also looked for a place where he would have a good view of the house without being seen. He drove past a second time and decided that he would have to get out of his car. There was a park about a mile away. He would leave his car there and walk back to the house. He could easily hide among the trees and watch the house.

Tony waited impatiently for Jack to call back. In the meantime, he was trying to act as natural as possible. He doubted that anyone would notice his heightened level of anxiety. Everyone was so on edge that his behavior was as normal as anyone else's. Tony was just about to call Jack when his phone rang. The caller ID let him know that it was Jack on the line.

"Hello," Tony said. He had to be careful not to let his end of the conversation give anything away.

"Tony, I'm on site," Jack told him falling back into old CTU jargon.

"Thanks for calling Jack," Tony said nonchalantly.

"You can't talk, can you?"

"No," Tony answered. "The police don't have anything new."

"Okay, I understand," Jack said. "Just listen to me. I'm at the house. It's a two story colonial. It's way too big for one person. A black Toyota Camry is parked in the driveway. It has Virginia tags number 'F' as in Frank, 'S' as in Sam, 'K' as in kite 4-7-3. Is that the license plate Chloe gave you?"

"Yeah, it is," Tony answered.

"Then she must be here but there's a second car in the driveway. It's an old yellow Grand Am with a black vinyl roof. It's got a Virginia tag; the number is 'A' as in apple, 'N' as in Nancy, 'E' as in eagle 5-3-3. See if Chloe can run the plates and get a registration."

"Okay."

"I'll keep an eye on the house. The blinds are drawn and I can see movement, but I haven't seen any people. The garage door is open and there are stacks of boxes. So Abby must be getting ready for her move. Tony, if we have to get in the house at some point, we need a floor plan. A sign in front of the house lists 'Reed and Anderson' as the realty company that's handling the rental on the house. According to the sign, there's a virtual tour at the agency's website. See what you can get from that."

"Sure, Jack. Thanks I appreciate your concern. I'll talk to you later." Tony hung up and turned toward Michelle. "Jack just wanted to see if we had any new information. He said if we need anything, he and Audrey will be happy to help."

Michelle nodded. She had no reason to question what seemed to be an innocuous conversation between Tony and his best friend. She turned her attention back to Chelsea who was nursing again. She remembered Conner's complaint from yesterday that Chelsea was always hungry and smiled. You might just be right, little guy, she thought as tears filled her eyes.

While Michelle was paying attention to Chelsea, Tony went upstairs to the den where he placed a call to Chloe. She agreed to find the registration for the unidentified vehicle in Abby's driveway and to get back to Tony as soon as possible. Tony hung up and logged onto the computer. It took him less than a minute to find Reed and Anderson's website. He clicked on "rental properties" and typed in the street address. Bingo! He had definitely struck pay dirt. In addition to a virtual tour, the listing included a detailed floor plan and told Tony that the house had a security system. That would complicate things if he and Jack had to go inside, but they could work their way around it. Tony printed out the floor plan, folded it and put it in his pocket. All he could do now was wait until he heard from Jack and Chloe.

Chloe called back first. "Tony, I got the information you wanted but I'm not sure it helps. The car is registered to a woman named Elsa Sanchez in Charlottesville, Virginia. The problem is, she's a Mexican who was here on a student visa. Her visa expired a year ago not long after she graduated from the University of Virginia and from what I can see, she retuned to Mexico. I'm looking at INS records and she's no longer in the US. I also tracked her credit cards and all of her recent purchases are in Mexico. I don't know who is currently driving the car. The registration doesn't expire for another six months."

Tony thanked Chloe again and disconnected. He wasn't sure what to make of the information either but at least they knew for sure that the second car didn't belong to Abby. It was likely that there was at least one other adult in the house with her.

Jack had always hated stake outs and this one was no different. At least he wasn't stuck in the car. The dense stand of trees not far from the house provided good cover and it allowed him to walk from the front of the house to the back undetected. Not long after he talked to Tony, Jack spotted Abby carrying some boxes from the house out into the garage to add to the pile. He hoped at some point that Conner would follow her out and he would get a visual on him, but so far he wasn't having any such luck. After spending time watching the front of the house, he decided to check out the back. Conner was an active little boy who loved to be outside. Maybe he would beg to go outside until he wore down Abby's resolve. Jack had been standing hidden in the trees behind the house for about a half hour when his phone vibrated against his side telling him that someone was calling.

"Yeah," he said quietly knowing that Tony was on the other end. "What've you got?"

"Chloe ran the plates on the second vehicle," Tony told him. "It is registered to a Mexican woman here on a student visa, but the visa expired a year ago. As far as Chloe can tell, the woman went back to Mexico. We don't know who's driving the car or how that person got the car. So the driver either stole it and for some reason the owner never reported it missing or the owner sold it and the new owner never changed the registration."

"I guess either is possible, but it doesn't give us much to go on. Did you have any luck with the floor plan?"

"Yeah, I found it and printed it out. I haven't had a chance to look it over well and formulate any kind of plan."

"Okay, I haven't seen anything yet but I'll keep watching. I have to be home by 7:30. Audrey and the girls will be home by then and if I'm not home she's going to ask questions."

"I understand," Tony told him. "Do what you can and stay in touch."

Jack continued to watch the house. He could feel his heart rate increase when a back door that led out onto the deck opened. He held field glasses to his face hoping to spot his Godson. But it wasn't Conner who stepped out onto the deck, nor was it Abby. It was a Hispanic woman. Jack was too far away to get a good look at her. He could tell that she was a big woman, probably five feet, nine or ten inches tall. She wasn't fat but she had a big frame and he guessed that she weighed close to 200 pounds. When she opened the door a small white dog ran out. He trotted down the several steps from the deck to the back yard and began to sniff. Jack grew a little concerned that the dog would smell him and come to investigate, but it soon became clear that the dog was just looking for the perfect spot to relieve himself. Once he did that, he looked around as if interested in exploring, but the woman called him.

"Scooter," she said with a lilting accent. "Come on, fella. Time to go in." The dog was well trained and immediately went back to her and into the house.

Jack maintained his cover in the trees until a little after six o'clock. If he was going to make it home on time he would have to start back to his car. Nothing was happening and the sun had become low in the sky throwing the house into dark shadows. Jack reached the end of the tree stand. In order to get back to his car, there was about a 25 foot distance where he had to be completely out in the open. He checked the road and made sure there were no cars. That part was easy. At this time of day any vehicles in the area would need headlights against the rapidly descending dusk. So cars announced themselves ahead of time. He was more concerned about being seen from the house. He held up his field glasses wishing they were fitted with night vision and carefully checked each window that could provide a vantage point to the clear area he had to cross. They were all clear until he reached the last upstairs window on the corner of the house. There was a light on in the room and it silhouetted the figures in the room against a sheer curtain. Jack couldn't see faces but could easily make out the silhouette of the tall Hispanic woman. He watched her bend over and pick up a child. She tossed the child into the air and caught him and then set him down again. It was clearly a game that the child enjoyed and they repeated it eight or nine times. Finally the woman tossed him into the air, caught him and spun around a couple of times. That seemed to signal the end of the game and she carried the child away from the window. Jack couldn't see the child's face but he was sure that it was Conner or sure enough, at least, to agree to a late night covert raid on the house with Tony.

Jack scanned the windows again and made his way across the open space to the tree cover on the other side. From there he could walk within the tree line and stay out of site all the way back to his car. As he walked, he looked for a place where he and Tony could stash a car. He didn't want to park as far away as he had today and walk all the way to the house. He also had to figure out what he was going to tell Audrey. He couldn't exactly say he was going into the office in the middle of the night. He was afraid that he would have to tell her the truth and make her promise not to tell Michelle. Before he could make that decision he was back at the car. He started it and put it into gear and got back on the road. Once he was moving, he pulled out his phone and called Tony.

"Tony, I think I've got something," he said as Tony answered. "You need to go somewhere where you can talk call me back."

Tony put his free hand up to his other ear as if he couldn't hear. "Hello," he said again. "Don, you're in a bad cell. Call back when you're in a better cell."

"Got it," Jack said. "I'll call you back in five minutes."

"Who was that?" Michelle asked.

"Don Martini from work. I guess he was just checking on how things were going but he was in a bad cell." Tony had been playing with Chelsea on the sofa. He picked her up and handed her to Michelle. "Honey, can you take her. I need to run upstairs for a minute."

Michelle knew that "run upstairs for a minute" was Tony's polite was of saying he was going to the bathroom. She took the baby unquestioningly and watched as Tony left the room. He was edgier than he had been yesterday but, then again, so was she. She knew he was as tired and scared as she was and he had a right to act the way he was.

Tony made his way to the bathroom attached to the master bedroom. He turned on the exhaust fan to cover the sound of him talking on the phone. The two minutes until Jack called back were about the longest two minutes of his life. He answered the phone the second it began to ring.

"Yeah, what have you got?" he asked anxiously.

"There's a child in the house. I couldn't see a face, but I'm pretty sure that it's Conner. The size and shape were right. There's also a small white dog, probably a terrier. I can identify at least one other adult in the house. It's a Hispanic woman. I couldn't see her face, but she's tall and large framed with short brown or black hair. I don't know if there are any other adults in the house besides the Hispanic woman and Abby."

"Okay," Tony said, "I'm going in there tonight, Jack. If Conner is in that house I'm going to get him back."

"Listen, Tony, calm down. I agree and I'll be right there with you. Have you looked at the floor plan?"

"Yeah, pull it up on the website when you get home. The place has a home security system but I think we can avoid it if the interior motion detectors are turned off for the night."

Jack agreed. He knew that most people with kids and a dog have to turn motion detectors off at night to avoid them being triggered by a child going to the bathroom or the dog running through the house.

Tony continued. "It looks like there's a sliding glass door on the deck. Those are usually a weak spot in home security systems. They put a contact monitor on the sliding door but ignore the stationary window panel. All we have to do is remove the four screws holding that in place and we're in."

"I'll take a look at the floor plan, but that sounds reasonable. How do you plan to neutralize the dog?"

"I was going to feed him a couple of caramels. That should tie him up long enough for us to find Conner and subdue any adults in the house."

"Fine, that should work," Jack answered. "There's a park about a mile east of Abby's house. Let's meet there at midnight. We can take one car from there. I found a place a couple hundred yards from the house where we can leave the car."

"Midnight's too early, Jack," Tony told him. "Abby's a night owl. She always reads until at least midnight. If we want to make sure that she's asleep when we enter the house, we can't go in before one or one-thirty."

"Okay, let's meet at one o'clock," Jack agreed.

"I'll see you then," Tony responded before disconnecting.

Now he had to come up with a way to get out of the house around 12:30 without arousing suspicion. He decided that he needed to come clean with his parents and Michelle's mother and brother, but he still didn't want to tell Michelle. He knew that she was exhausted; she hadn't slept in two days. He had to convince her that she needed to go to bed and then get her to take a medication to help her sleep. Once she was asleep he knew that she would sleep for several hours. That would give him enough time.

"Tony, it's time for dinner." His mother's voice interrupted his thoughts.

Tony walked down the steps knowing how hard it was going to be to sit calmly through dinner. He went into the kitchen and put his arm around his mother.

"Thanks, Mom," he said as he kissed her forehead, "but I just don't feel like eating."

"None of us feels like eating, Tony," she said honestly. "You need to eat. If you don't eat you're going to end up sick."

Tony rolled his eyes. Boy, there's a "mom line" if I've ever heard one, Tony thought.

"I'm serious, Tony," his mother said with some exasperation in her voice. "I heard you tell Michelle the same thing this morning. It applies to you, too."

"I didn't tell Michelle that she would get sick. I reminded her that she's still nursing Chelsea and she needs to eat for Chelsea's sake."

"Whatever the reason," his mother continued. "Chelsea's counting on both of you and Conner needs you to be strong and healthy when he comes home."

Convoluted mom logic, Tony thought. But he also knew it wasn't worth fighting about. He would find a way to eat a few bites. He sat down at the dinner table next to Michelle who protested as her own mother put a large slice of ham on her plate followed by a large spoonful of scalloped potatoes.

"Mom, I'm not hungry," she said.

"I've been here since 9:30 this morning and I haven't seen you eat a single bite, Michelle. You need to eat." Michelle, too, knew that is wasn't worth protesting and silently picked up a fork.

Despite the fact that six people were seated around Tony and Michelle's dinner table, the room was amazingly quiet and little food was consumed. Conner's empty booster seat sat on the floor cruelly reminding everyone that he wasn't there. The police had provided them with updates every two hours today, but for the most part, all Lt. Landsman had said when he updated them was that they had no new leads. He admitted during the six o'clock update that the trail had grown very cold. He reviewed Abby's report with Tony and Michelle which, as promised, profiled the kidnapper as a Hispanic woman. He assured them that they were getting the coroner's reports on any Hispanic boys who had died at about Conner's age or who would be his age now if they had lived. They had obtained the information from several nearby states and officers were currently tracking down the mothers in all of the cases. He acted hopeful that this was the right course of action and commented that he was grateful that a profiler of Abby's status would have consulted in the case.

Tony finally ate enough ham and potatoes and green beans to satisfy his mother. He felt just like he had when he was ten and was forced to eat dinner before he could go back outside and play baseball with his friends. Tony left the table and went back upstairs to the den. He made a quick list of things he would need tonight. He would collect everything after Michelle was asleep.

The night dragged on at an unbearably slow pace for Tony. He paced through the house deep in thought. Michelle was too deep in her own thoughts to notice the change in Tony, but it wasn't lost on Erica Almeida. She knew her son too well; this was not how her son dealt with a crisis. He was being too passive. He wasn't questioning the police like he had earlier; he was simply accepting everything they said and thanking them politely. She feared that he had already given up.

At eleven o'clock Tony decided that it was time to convince Michelle to go to bed. He found her sitting on the sofa in the family room nursing Chelsea.

"Sweetheart, when she's finished eating, why don't you put her in the bassinette in our room and then you can go to sleep."

Michelle shook her head as tears filled her eyes. "I can't sleep, Tony. Every time I close my eyes all I can see is Conner sliding down the sliding board at the playground. He was so proud of himself, Tony." He put his arm around her and let her cry.

"Sweetheart, you have to get some sleep. You're exhausted and that's not good for you. You told me earlier that it was starting to effect your milk supply. Chelsea needs to eat, Honey. You're the only one who can feed her. Right now you have to do this for her sake. I have those pills the doctor gave me when I hurt my back a couple of months ago. Why don't you take one of those? It'll make you sleepy and help you get through the night."

"If I take one of those I won't be awake enough to feed Chelsea during the night. She'll want to eat again by three o'clock."

"You keep some frozen breast milk in the freezer. I'll move some to the refrigerator to thaw. Then I'll warm up a bottle and feed her when she wakes up."

"She hates drinking from a bottle," Michelle reminded him.

"I'll deal with it. I've done it before. I want you to get some sleep. Please, Sweetheart," he said kissing her forehead for emphasis, "do this for me."

Michelle reluctantly agreed. When Chelsea finished eating Tony carried the sleepy infant to their room and settled her down in the bassinette next to their bed. Michelle got ready for bed and Tony found the medicine he wanted her to take. She swallowed the pill with a couple of ounces of water.

"You need some sleep, too, Tony," Michelle told him. "Come to bed with me," she requested.

"I was going to try and read for a while," he lied.

"Come to bed, Tony, please. I just want you to hold me."

Tony could see no way out of this so he quickly got ready for bed and slipped in beside Michelle. She immediately curled up in his arms and pillowed her head on his chest. This had always been the position she assumed when she wanted to feel secure. She had slept in this position for the first time several years ago after they first made love. He didn't realize it at the time, but now he guessed that she had felt a little insecure that night and needed to sleep in his arms for reassurance. She did it again when he first came home from prison. For the first few weeks, before things started to fall apart, she fell asleep every night in this same position. Now she was doing it again. He held her and offered her whatever security he could while he wished that she would just go to sleep so he could get out of bed and put his plan into motion.

As Tony suspected, it wasn't long before Michelle was in a deep sleep. He carefully slipped himself out from under her tucking an extra pillow under her head. She barely moved. Tony sighed as he watched her sleep. He hated lying to her. The only other time he had lied to her was when he was involved in the operation to buy the Cordilla virus and he had never seen her so angry as she was when she found out. He pushed the thought from his mind. She wouldn't be angry when he came home with Conner and he was sure that was the only possible result of this late night raid.

Tony stepped into a pair of old black jeans and a black turtleneck. He loaded his gun and put it in a holster then put an old black CTU jacket on to cover it and put gloves in his pockets. He made his way down the stairs to the family room where his parents and Michelle's family was sitting.

"I thought you were going to bed, Tony," his mother-in-law said.

"What are you wearing, Son?" asked his father. "You look like you're dressed for a commando raid," Roberto Almeida noted.

Tony smiled the same guilty smile that he had when he was 17 and his father caught him putting condoms in his pocket before going out with his girlfriend. "That's what I'm doing," Tony said. His voice was firm and matter of fact. "I'm going to get my son back."

"Tony, what are you talking about?" his mother asked with growing concern.

"I know where Conner is or, at least, I'm pretty sure that I know. Jack Bauer and I are going to get him."

"Have you called the police?" Roberto asked.

"Yeah, they ignored me," Tony explained. "I think Abby has Conner. I don't have any hard evidence. The police are refusing to question her or even follow her. My information tells me that she's going to leave the area within the next 48 hours. Once she does that, she'll disappear into thin air and take Conner with her. We won't have any hope of seeing him again if she does that."

"Why would you ever believe that Abby has Conner?" Erica asked him.

Tony quickly explained his reasons. "So," he said as he finished, "Jack and I are going into her house to take Conner back."

"What if Conner isn't there? What if you're wrong?" his mother asked her tone becoming more and more anxious.

"We'll go in and find Conner first. If we can't find him, we leave. In the morning Abby will find evidence of a break in and she may even call the police. Jack and I are smart enough not to leave any evidence behind." Tony pulled gloves from his pockets as proof.

"This sounds dangerous," Leslie Dessler said. "Does Michelle know that you're doing this?"

"No and we have to keep it that way. She's sound asleep. Chelsea is going to want to eat around 2:30 or 3 o'clock. Get her out of the room as soon as she starts crying so she doesn't wake Michelle. There's bottled breast milk in the refrigerator. Just warm it up a little. She doesn't like to drink from a bottle, but she'll do it if she's hungry enough."

"Tony," his mother said in a worried voice, "even if you're right and Abby has Conner, you and Jack are still breaking into her house. That's a crime. You could be arrested. You'll go back to prison. You've been down that road before and I don't want to see you there again." Erica was crying now.

"Mom," Tony said gently as he put his hand on her shoulder, "if Jack and I get Conner back the police and the FBI are going to be too embarrassed to charge us with anything. If they try to charge us, we'll make sure that the story is released to the media. Can you see those headlines? As long as they don't charge us, Jack and I will be willing to let them take the credit for solving the case. I guarantee that the FBI is going to want this story to get as little publicity as possible." Tony stopped for a moment and sighed. "The truth is that the last time I went to prison, I did it for saving Michelle's life. I am more than willing to pay the same price for saving Conner and bringing him back to Michelle."


	14. The Rescue

_Ok, here goes. This is the last chapter. I've written the ending three times and I'm still not satisfied with it but I couldn't figure out what to do to fix it. Let me know what you think. If you've got a better ending let me know and I'll consider changing this one._

Chapter 14: The Rescue

Tony pulled his dark green SUV into the parking lot next to Jack at 1:05 am. Before locking the car he reached into the back sea and retrieved the gear that he brought along. It was only a few items that he thought they might need and it all fit easily into a small backpack. Tony opened the passenger side door of Jack's SUV and slung his bag into the back seat. As he slid into the passenger seat, Tony nodded to Jack as a tense greeting. Jack nodded back. He was dressed almost identically to Tony right down to the old CTU jacket.

Jack spoke first. "I found a place where I can leave my car that's about 100 yards from Abby's house. It's well hidden. You can't see it from the road. Let's look at the floor plan and we'll review the plan."

Tony pulled out his copy of the floor plan of the house as Jack turned on a small flashlight. They spent the next five minutes reviewing their plan before Jack started the car and drove toward Abby's house.

Jack killed the headlights and pulled the car off the road and into a clear area hidden by trees. Before leaving the car he and Tony both checked their guns and donned black knit ski masks. Tony pulled his bag from the back seat and they began their silent trek toward Abby's house.

It wasn't long before Jack and Tony were standing in Abby's front yard. Jack made a circle around the house to make sure that the lights were all off. At the same time, Tony went up onto the deck in the back of the house to try and remove the stationary glass panel on the sliding glass door. As he suspected, the slider was connected to the security system, but the stationary panel was not. Tony took a screw driver from his bag and started loosening the first of the screws holding the door.

He had the first screw out and was starting on the second screw when Jack ascended the stairs to the deck. "All clear," he whispered.

"Good," Tony answered quietly. He removed the second screw and went to work on the third. He was shaking so badly that he could hardly keep the screw driver in the thin slot on the head of the screw but he was determined to stay focused. He was sure that Conner was inside the house and he had to remain calm if he was going to be effective.

Soon Tony had removed the fourth screw from the window and Jack helped him move the panel out onto the deck. Although they were as quiet as possible, they made enough noise to wake Scooter. He ran toward Jack and Tony as they entered the family room. As he let out his first bark, Jack picked him up and Tony held out his hand with two caramel candies in it. The dog eagerly took the caramels. Jack carried the dog into a powder room between the kitchen and family rooms. Tony dropped a couple more caramels on the floor and they closed the dog in the bathroom.

Based on the floor plan they knew that the house had a bedroom on the first floor. Tony started to move to the second floor while Jack checked out the first floor bedroom. Jack found the room empty except for some boxes. By now Tony had reached the top of the stairs. Three bedrooms were located on the second floor and all three doors were closed. Jack had seen the Hispanic woman playing with Conner in the corner room so they had decided that it was likely that Conner was sleeping in that room. Tony made his way silently down the hall and carefully opened the door to the corner bedroom. His heart nearly jumped from his chest as he looked across the room. A nightlight cast soft shadows onto the bed when Conner lay sleeping. Tony could feel tears fill his eyes as he gazed upon his son. He made his way across the room and leaned down close to check the child's breathing. As Tony heard his son's soft, rhythmic breathing, he released a breath that he didn't even realize that he was holding. He wanted nothing more than to scoop the little boy into his arms and hold him tight against his chest. Tony quickly got his emotions in check. He couldn't do that right now. He would have to wait for a little while. Conner was safe and that was all that was important at the moment.

Tony exited the room and carefully closed the door. Jack stood anxiously at the top of the stairs. He knew by the smile on Tony's face that he had found Conner. Jack smiled back. It was a relief to know that Conner was safe, but they still had a job to do and that job was not without its risks.

Now that Conner was found, they moved forward with their plan. Jack made his way to the first bedroom door. They had to assume that the Hispanic woman was asleep in there. Tony went to the door nearest Conner's room. They knew from the floor plan that this was the Master bedroom and presumably, Abby slept there. Tony put his hand on the doorknob and nodded at Jack. Jack put up one finger and then two. As he put up the third finger, both men turned the doorknobs they were holding and slowly opened the doors.

Tony looked back at Jack who nodded indicating that the Hispanic woman was indeed in the bedroom. Tony did the same to let Jack know that Abby was in the master bedroom. Each man entered the room stealthily, careful not to make a sound.

Jack reached the bed in about four steps. His instinct took over as he covered the woman's mouth with his hand and then rolled her over onto her stomach and pinned her to the bed with his body. He pulled his gun from the holster and pressed it against the base of her skull. She tried to scream and to fight but knew that she could not overcome her attacker's superior strength. Jack spoke calmly and quietly to her.

"I don't want to hurt you, but I will if I have to," he told her. "Don't say a word. Slowly put your right hand behind your back."

The woman relented knowing that she had been caught. Jack put his gun away and pulled cuffs from his back pocket. With his free hand, he put the bracelet around her right wrist and tightened it. He jerked her arm down along the side of the bed and attached the other cuff to the bed frame.

"This is over. We know the child is in the next room. There's a guy in the room down the hall taking down your partner right now. Police will be here soon. I'm going to uncover your mouth. There's no point in you screaming. No one will help you. If you scream, I will hurt you. Nod if you understand me." Jack watched as the woman nodded. He slowly released the hand that was covering her mouth. He noted that she no longer looked scared. Now she looked defiant. He knew immediately that this was not her first brush with the law. "I'm going to go help my partner. You lay here quietly until I tell you otherwise or, as I said before, I will hurt you. If you cooperate the prosecutor may be willing to cut you a deal. I can't guarantee that but it's a possibility."

Jack left the room and closed the door behind him. While he was taking down the suspect in the guest room, Tony was busy doing the same thing in the master bedroom. Like Jack, he had crossed the room in a few steps then covered Abby's mouth. Unlike Jack, Tony turned Abby onto her back instead of her stomach. He wanted to make sure she knew that it was him. He sat across her stomach and pinned her arms against her body with his legs. With his free hand he pulled off the ski mask and then reached into his waistband for his gun. Tony could see the pure terror in Abby's eyes when he raised the gun and held it to her face.

"I could pull the trigger right now and feel no remorse," he hissed through clenched teeth. "Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you?" He moved the hand that covered her mouth down to the base of her throat slightly choking her.

"Go ahead and kill me. Do you think I'm afraid of that? At least if you kill me I won't sit in prison. So, go ahead. Pull the trigger, Tony. You'll go to prison forever," Abby said defiantly. "Can you live with that? Can you live without seeing your kids grow up or without your precious wife?"

Tony glared at her. He was so angry that the hand holding the gun trembled with rage. "Why would you do this? Have you spent the last two and a half years stalking us; looking for your chance to take our son?"

"Don't flatter yourself!" Abby answered gasping for breath. "I haven't wasted ten minutes thinking about you until I saw you last spring at the Tidal Basin. That was when I realized that you played me for a fool, that you cheated on me."

Now Tony was confused. His rage began to subside slightly as he tried to understand Abby's reasoning. "I never cheated on you, Abby. Never!"

"Don't lie to me! I'm not stupid," she spat back at him. "You got married less than a week after we broke up. Your kid was born seven months later. You bastard! You were fucking her while we were still engaged! Or maybe I should say you were making love to her and fucking me!"

Tony's anger retuned. He had never cheated on Abby and to think this was all the result of her mistaken idea that he had cheated made him seethe. He pressed harder on her throat making her fight for breath. "I don't have to explain myself to you, but I never cheated on you. Michelle and I got married a week after you and I broke up because we both knew that it was what we wanted. Conner was born prematurely. He didn't even weigh five pounds. How dare you put Conner and Michelle through this because you thought I cheated on you! How dare you!" With that Tony tightened his grip on her throat and pressed the gun hard against Abby's cheekbone just below her eye.

"Tony put the gun down!" Jack said urgently from behind him. "Just set it down. I'll cuff her and we'll let the police take it from here."

Tony maintained his position as if not hearing Jack.

"Tony, it's not worth it. You'll lose everything. She's not resisting you; the situation is under control. If you kill her you'll be charged with murder," Jack said trying to reason with him. It reminded him of that moment years ago when he was holding a gun to Nina's head in the garage at CTU while Tony and George talked him out of killing her. He had never wanted to kill anyone as much as he wanted to kill Nina at that moment. He knew how Tony felt right now. He knew how much Tony wanted to pull that trigger.

"Tony, Conner's asleep in the next room. A gunshot will wake him up. It'll scare him. Put the gun down and go to Conner. He needs you Tony. You don't want him to see you taken away in handcuffs. Give me the gun and go get Conner."

Tony was beginning to hesitate now. He never moved off of Abby, but he glanced over toward Jack once or twice. Jack could see that his tactic was working so he continued. "Come on, Tony, give me the gun. It's over. We've got her. That was our objective. I've got her covered," Jack said as he trained his gun on Abby, "now put down your gun and cuff her."

Tony continued to hold his gun on her. His breathing was rapid and shallow. He finally squeezed his eyes shut and lifted the hand that was pressing on her throat. Abby gratefully gasped for breath. Jack moved in closer as Tony pushed his gun back into his waistband and he pulled handcuffs from his belt. He released Abby's right hand from where he had it pinned to her body and encircled the wrist with the handcuff. He climbed off of her and pushed her forcefully onto her stomach then jerked her left arm from underneath her and attached the other cuff to it. Abby's body relaxed and she breathed deeply finally able to get enough air.

Jack holstered his gun and put his hand on Tony's shoulder. "It's over," he whispered. "Go ahead and get Conner."

"No," Tony said shaking his head. "I want him to sleep as long as he can before I wake him to take him home. I'll call the police and get this straightened out first." Tony took out a cell phone and dialed Lt. Landsman's number.

The phone rang several times before it was answered. "Landsman," said the voice rough with sleep.

"Lieutenant, this is Tony Almeida."

"Mr. Almeida? It's 2am. Has something new happened? Why are you calling me?"

"I found my son, Lieutenant," Tony told him.

Landsman was awake and sitting up now. "Where did you find him? Is he alright?"

"He's fine, no thanks to you," Tony said bitterly. "He was exactly where I told you he would be. Abby Clark had him."

"Where are you now, Mr. Almeida?"

"I'm standing in Ms. Clark's bedroom. She's handcuffed and an accomplice of hers is handcuffed in the next room."

"Why are you calling me? You need to call the local authorities so they can arrest her. I'll get a judge to extradite her to Maryland tomorrow morning."

"The problem, Lieutenant, is that since you wouldn't have your men investigate Ms. Clark, I had to take matters into my own hands in order to get my son back. So, I may have entered Ms. Clark's residence illegally."

"You broke in?"

"You could say that," Tony said coolly.

"And now you expect me to do what, Mr. Almeida?"

"I expect you to run interference with the local police, Lieutenant. I want to make sure my partner and I aren't charged with breaking and entering. We're more than happy to give the credit to your officers and the local police or even to the FBI, if you like. We just want to walk away without any charges hanging over our heads."

"Making all of that happen isn't as easy as it sounds, Mr. Almeida. If the local police decide to charge you, you'll be out on bond in less than 24 hours and I suspect a jury would be very sympathetic to your case."

From the moment he met Landsman, Tony knew the man was ambitious. He was young to have already made lieutenant and Tony was sure that he hoped to be a captain before he turned 40. Tony decided it was time to exploit that weak spot. "Unfortunately Lieutenant, if either of us is charged, my wife is going to go straight to the media and make sure that she tells them how you refused to follow up on my suspicions regarding Abby Clark. She's very articulate. She'll have those newsmen eating right out of her hand. The police commissioner is going to ask for an investigation into her allegations. If you're lucky you won't have to resign, but you'll never make captain."

Landsman was silent. "This may take some time, Mr. Almeida," he said after a few moments passed.

"I have time. My son is asleep so I'm more than willing to wait for a while," Tony said smiling with satisfaction. "Tell the local police not to use any sirens. I don't want them waking Conner up."

Landsman disconnected without saying goodbye.

"All taken care of," Tony said to Jack with an air of satisfaction.

The police arrived in about a half hour. While they waited for the police, Tony sat on the edge of Conner's bed and watched him sleep. He called home and talked to his father to let everyone there know that Conner was fine and that they would be back home in a couple of hours. Michelle was still sleeping and Tony instructed them not to awaken her.

Once the police arrived, they took statements from Jack and Tony. Abby and Octavia were both placed under arrest. The captain of the local precinct in Virginia who had talked to Lt. Landsman spoke with Tony.

"I don't like this arrangement, Mr. Almeida," he said frankly. "I've known Mike Landsman for years. Our jurisdictions are geographically so close that we end up working together from time to time. I agreed to do this because I don't want him to end up looking bad, but for the record, I'm not happy about it."

"Understood," Tony said succinctly. He really didn't care whether the captain was happy or not. He had his son back and he and Jack weren't being arrested. "I'd like to take my son home now. Are Mr. Bauer and I free to go?"

The captain nodded. "I have a medic waiting outside if you'd like to have your son checked over."

"We didn't hurt him!" Abby snarled from the kitchen where she stood handcuffed. A young officer was about to take her outside to the waiting car. "I made sure he was well taken care of," she said almost as a matter of pride; as if taking good care of him made up for kidnapping him.

Tony never looked at her. He thanked the captain and shook his head. "We'll take him to his own pediatrician in the morning. After all he's been through, I'm not sure that I want someone he doesn't know poking at him in the middle of the night." Tony turned and started to make his way toward the stairs.

"Captain," said one of the officers, "what should we do with the dog?" Scooter was still locked in the bathroom and was scratching and yipping, hoping that someone would let him out.

Abby spoke first. "Tony," she called. He hesitated but finally looked back at her. "The dog belongs to Conner," she said with downcast eyes. "I bought the dog for him and they love each other. They've played nonstop for the last two days. Take the dog with you."

"Do you want the dog, Mr. Almeida?" the captain asked. "If not, he'll be taken to the nearest shelter."

"If Conner wants to keep the dog, I'll take him," Tony said as he started up the stairs. Abby's unexpected moment of humanity, her almost motherly instinct toward both the dog and Conner surprised him. She had been so cold and defiant since the moment he pulled the gun on her that he wondered what happened to the woman he had loved a few years ago. She had always been warm and sweet. It would have never occurred to him that she could have turned into someone who could inflict so much pain. He shook his head unable to comprehend.

Despite how tired he was, Tony ascended the stairs quickly. He made his way quietly into Conner's room and sat down on the bed. He gently shook the little boy's shoulder. "Hey Buddy," he said softly. "Conner, it's Daddy. Wake up, Buddy."

Conner yawned and stretched and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

"That's it, Conner. Wake up. Daddy's here. It's time to go home, Big Guy."

Conner finally opened his eyes and took a second to focus. "Daddy!" he squealed as he jumped up into Tony's arms. "Daddy, I missed you!" he told his tearful father.

"I know, Buddy," Tony told him as he wiped away tears. "Mommy and I missed you, too. Are you okay? Did anybody hurt you?"

Conner looked confused. "I'm okay. I had fun but I missed you and I missed Mommy."

"I'm going to take you home to Mommy right now, Conner."

"Did you see my new doggie? His name is Scooter. Can I take him with me?" Conner asked.

"Do you want to take him home with you?"

"Yes!" Conner said happily. "Do you think Mommy will like him?"

"I think Mommy will like him," Tony said with a smile. He wished he was as sure about that as he sounded. Michelle had enough work around the house without a dog but under the circumstances he didn't know how to refuse Conner. "I'm not so sure Lily will like him," Tony said suddenly thinking about Michelle's white cat.

"I think they'll be friends," Conner said with an air of authority.

Tony couldn't help but smile as he picked his son up and carried him down the stairs. Jack met him when he reached the bottom step.

"Hey, Little Man!" Jack said putting his arms out to take Conner. Jack adored Conner. The little boy was as close to a son as Jack thought he could ever hope for. He and Audrey already had two girls and Audrey was currently pregnant with their third child, another daughter. This would make a total of four daughters between his two marriages. When they saw the ultrasound images of the baby that Audrey was carrying and realized that it was a girl, Jack sighed contentedly and decided that it was time to stop trying for a son.

"Uncle Jack!" Conner shouted back and reached out for Jack. "Are you going home with us?" he asked as Jack took him from his father's arms.

"No, I'm going home to Aunt Audrey and Susie and Maggie. Maybe the girls can come over and play this week."

"Okay, they can play with my new doggie," Conner said excitedly.

"Sounds like a deal," Jack told him.

Conner struggled to get out of Jack's arms and down to the floor. "Where's Scooter?" he asked. "Scooter! Scooter!" he called as he ran toward the kitchen. He could hear the dog barking behind the bathroom door. "Who put Scooter in the bathroom?" he asked indignantly as he tried to open the door. "He doesn't know how to use the potty."

Tony and Jack looked at each other and laughed as Tony opened the bathroom door and the dog came running out. "God, it feels good to laugh again," Tony said. They both watched Conner who was now sitting on the floor hugging Scooter. For his part, the dog seemed to love the attention. "Thank you for everything, Jack. Michelle and I owe you more than we can possibly ever repay."

"I'm just happy you got Conner back safely," Jack said sincerely. "Seeing him safe is all the thanks I need. I'm going to head home. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Tony found a sweat shirt for Conner and pulled it on over his pajamas. Then he gathered his son into his arms and took him outside to his SUV which one of the officers had retrieved from the park where Tony had left it. He buckled Conner into his car seat while another of the officers brought Scooter out in his crate and put him in the rear of the SUV. Conner drifted off to sleep as Tony drove home, a drive that seemed to take forever. Tony couldn't wait to get Conner home to Michelle.

It was almost 4:15 a.m. when Tony and Conner arrived home. His parents and Leslie and Danny Dessler were all waiting anxiously for their arrival. A very sleepy Conner couldn't understand all of the fuss that was being made over him. He just wanted to see his mother who was still sleeping and didn't know of her son's safe return.

Tony carried Conner triumphantly up the stairs to the master bedroom. "Okay, Tiger," he said as he put Conner on the bed next to Michelle. "Wake Mommy up."

Conner put his face close to Michelle's and rubbed her cheek with his small hand. "Mommy," he said, "Mommy, wake up."

Michelle stretched, "Yes, Conner," she said reflexively. Her eyes fluttered open and the memory of all that had happened in the last two days came flooding back. She looked at her son in disbelief. "Conner!" she cried as she pulled him into her arms and smothered his face with kisses. "Oh, Baby! You're home! You're safe! I love you so much! I missed you, Sweetie!"

"Ow, Mommy, you're squishing me! Let go," Conner said as he finally had enough of his mother's kisses. "Guess what, the lady gave me a dog! Do you want to see him?"

"A dog?" Michelle asked looking from Conner up to Tony and back again. "What kind of dog?"

"A little white one. His name is Scooter. I'll go downstairs and get him." Before Michelle could say another word, Conner vaulted off the bed and ran down the stairs.

"Where did the police find him? I didn't hear the doorbell. When did they bring him home? Are they still here? What's this about a dog?" Michelle peppered Tony with questions. She stopped suddenly after really taking a look at Tony. "Why are you dressed like that?"

"The police didn't find Conner, Jack and I did," Tony told her.

"You found him? Where was he?"

Tony sat down on the bed next to Michelle. "Abby had him. I suspected it after she interviewed us today. Chloe did some checking for me and some things just didn't add up. The police refused to question her, so Jack and I took care of it ourselves."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Michelle asked him.

"Honey, I'm sorry. You had so much to worry about that I didn't want to add to it. If Jack and I were wrong and Abby didn't have Conner, you would have been devastated. I hated keeping it from you, but I felt like it was the best thing to do at the time. Please don't be angry with me."

"How could I be angry with you? You brought our son home," Michelle said as she wrapped her arms around Tony and kissed him.

"Look Mommy!" Conner said in an excited voice as he and Scooter ran into the bedroom. "This is Scooter." Conner tried to pick up the dog to put him up on the bed.

"Let me do that, Buddy," Tony told him. He set the dog on the bed and Conner climbed up after him.

"Do you like him?" Conner asked.

"He's adorable," Michelle answered as she patted his head. "Just what we need," she said sarcastically as she looked at Tony. "I sure hope Lily likes him."

"I couldn't say 'no'," Tony said looking at her with that irresistible look in his eyes that always melted her heart. "Lily saw him downstairs and she just turned over and went back to sleep. I guess she thinks if she ignores him, he'll go away."

Tony and Michelle looked on as Conner, whose sleep had already been interrupted twice, curled up in the middle of their bed with his head on Michelle's pillow. He had his arm around Scooter who looked like he had also found a comfortable place to spend the night.

Tony smiled at Michelle. "I think we've been kicked out of our bed," he said.

"I don't think so," Michelle retorted. "Conner, you can sleep in bed with Mommy and Daddy tonight if you like, but Scooter's going to have to sleep on the floor. I'll get you your teddy bear to hug and I'll get Scooter a blanket and a pillow. Would that be okay?"

Conner yawned. "Okay, Mommy," he said having suddenly become quite sleepy. He released his grip on Scooter and Tony took the dog off the bed.

Michelle retrieved Conner's favorite teddy bear from his room and an old baby blanket and a small pillow for Scooter. She tucked the bear under Conner's arm as he drifted off to sleep. Meanwhile, Tony tried to convince Scooter that he should be happy with the pillow and blanket on the floor. He looked unhappy and kept walking back toward the bed in hopes that someone would pick him up because it was clear even to Scooter that his short little legs didn't allow him to jump high enough to reach the bed. He finally poked the blanket with him nose and tugged at it and moved the pillow until he was satisfied and then laid down in his new home.

Tony got ready for bed while Michelle lay next to Conner tenderly stroking his hair and memorizing every inch of his face. Tony came out of the bathroom still drying his face and neck with a thick towel. He looked down at Chelsea who was asleep in her bassinette next to the bed and then at Conner. He smiled at the children and then at Michelle. "We do good work," he commented to her with a smile.

"They're both perfect, aren't they?" she said lovingly as she pushed one of Conner's curls behind his ear.

"For two people who seem to work so well together, we both made a mess of our lives when we were apart," he said as he sat on the bed and shook his head. "How could I have ever proposed marriage to someone who was hateful enough to kidnap a child? I can't believe she had it in her to do something like that. I'm sorry, Michelle. I feel like this is all my fault. If I had told you before I left LA that I still loved you, none of this would have happened."

"Tony, you can't possibly blame yourself for what Abby did. And as far as almost marrying her, my track record isn't much better. I married Bill."

"At least the man didn't commit a felony!" Tony exclaimed quietly.

"Maybe not a felony, but what he did was pretty cruel. I will admit that I had no business staying in the relationship with him when all I wanted was companionship and I knew full well that he wanted a long term commitment, but intentionally making me pregnant was pretty callous."

"Thank God we found each other again," Tony whispered as he leaned across Conner to kiss his wife. He knew it sounded trite, but she was his soul mate and the love of his life. Like all other couples, their relationship had its high points and its low points. It took them time to realize that it was the high points that got you through the low points and that the low points would make you stronger if you just let them. Their love was strong and it was enduring. They both understood that only after being apart and searching in vain for love, that it had always been right there for them; waiting patiently for them to recognize it.

Without another word the two lay down with their son between them. They each put a protective arm across him and let their hands rest on each other. Tonight they would be parents with both of their children close by. Tomorrow night Conner and Chelsea would go back to their own beds and Tony and Michelle could again be lovers. They would remind themselves that they had just been through one of those low points; a point so low that they both prayed they would never experience it again. At the same time, they knew that if they let it, getting through that low point together would make their love so much richer, so much stronger, so much sweeter.

_Please, please, please! Hit your submit review button and let me know what you think. You guys have submitted an incredible number of reviews already and I can't tell you how good that feels. Thanks again to all of you. _


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